Gazan migrant Mosab Abdulkarim Al-Gassas, 34, known as Abu Wadi, entered Britain by boat illegally last year and was jailed for nine months for entering the country without authorization or a valid visa. He was later granted permission to stay. After taking part in Hamas activity in Gaza and calling for Jews to be killed, he was tracked down by a local newspaper reporter at an apartment in the town of Corby and confronted about his past. Local Labour MP Lee Barron said he was appalled by the discovery and would contact the home secretary to demand Al-Gassas’ immediate deportation.
Abu Wadi was found this week by a Northamptonshire Telegraph reporter at an apartment he shares with three other migrants. During the interview, conducted through a translation app, he acknowledged that he had previously been a member of a Hamas tire-burning unit and had called for Jews to be killed, but said that was eight years ago and claimed Hamas had forced him to do it.
Gazan who called for Jews to be killed, then moved to UK, now disavows Hamas: ‘They forced me’
(Video: Northamptonshire Telegraph)
He denied that he still supports the terror group. “Everyone knows Hamas is a terrorist organization that would have killed us if we didn’t speak against the Jews while we lived there,” he said. He also said he now has Jewish friends and enjoys his life in Corby. Asked whether he wanted to remain in Britain, he replied: “I love Corby.” When asked whether he wanted to return to Gaza, he said: “No talk Gaza, no talk Israel, no talk news, no nothing.” He later added: “I need to live here.”
Those statements stand in contrast to material he posted in the past. Abu Wadi, who runs a TikTok account with around 20,000 followers and continues to upload videos from central Corby, previously posted photos and videos showing himself carrying a rifle and confronting IDF forces.
In a video posted to his Facebook account in September 2024, before he arrived in Britain, he said: “Allah, deal with the Jews and those loyal to them. Allah, kill them one by one and leave none of them. Allah, destroy them completely, scatter them entirely and bring the ground down beneath their feet.”
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Abu Wadi in a photo he posted. ‘Allah, destroy them completely, scatter them entirely and bring the ground down beneath their feet,’ he wrote
Abu Wadi in a photo he posted. ‘Allah, destroy them completely, scatter them entirely and bring the ground down beneath their feet,’ he wrote.
The discovery that Abu Wadi was living in Corby, about 75 kilometers east of Birmingham, prompted sharp reactions from local officials. Barron said he had previously worked to have migrants removed from Corby and intended to do so again. Local council member Mark Pengelly backed the demand, calling the migrant’s presence in the town a “ridiculous situation” and stressing that residents’ safety was his top priority.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said it was a joke that taxpayers were being forced to cover Abu Wadi’s expenses while he receives a weekly subsistence allowance of 49.18 pounds, about 200 shekels, for what he described as the “lifestyle of a Hamas-supporting, gun-carrying extremist who broke into our country illegally.”
Abu Wadi holding a weapon in a photo he posted himself
The senior Conservative politician called for the 34-year-old migrant to be deported, adding: “Given that he supports Hamas and Hamas-controlled Gaza, I see no reason why he cannot go back there. He will fit in there perfectly.”
The Home Office is seeking to deport him, but cannot currently do so because of “the dangers in the area and the absence of safe and lawful routes back to Gaza.” A spokesman for the Campaign Against Antisemitism responded angrily: “What is the point of imprisoning someone for being in the country illegally, and then, once he finishes his sentence, allowing him to walk free?”