In a fiery interview with Piers Morgan on Monday night, Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labor leader, repeatedly avoided labeling Hamas as a terrorist group.
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Corbyn who has called the terror group his "friends," was asked no less than 15 times by Morgan whether he would describe Hamas as terrorists during the Talk TV show.
Corbyn said the massacres on October 7 were “abominable” and “appalling” but failed when pushed to describe Hamas as a “terrorist group.”
Speaking about the possible negotiations with Hamas, Morgan asked Corbyn: “And you think Israel can do peace with people who did that?”
Corbyn replied: “If you want to have a discussion, fine. But if you want to shout at me that’s your prerogative, your TV show.”
Morgan asked Corbyn again if he thought Hamas was a terrorist group.
Corbyn grew frustrated at the questioning and said: “Listen, I do not approve, support or welcome Hamas.”
Morgan asked yet again: “Are they a terror group?”
Corbyn said: “Everybody knows what they are, is it possible to have a rational discussion?”
Morgan noted that it was "very telling" that the former Labor leader, suspended from the party in 2020 by Keir Starmer, refrained from directly addressing his question.
Morgan tried again to ask Corbyn whether he condemned Hamas’ actions on October 7.
Corbyn replied: “Of course I have, at every speech I’ve made I’ve utterly condemned the killing on October 7 and it was the taking of innocent life. It was totally wrong under any circumstances. You don’t bring back the tragedy of those 1,400 deaths by killing 10,000 in Gaza. You must have a process that leads to a cease-fire.”