Gazan who prayed for death to all Jews arrested after reaching UK on migrant dinghy
Abu Wadei reportedly left Strip before Oct. 7, previously posed with gunmen, participated in attacks on Israel; British Home Office says he’s been charged with immigration offenses
A Gazan man who published footage of himself boasting of armed action against Israel and praying for Allah to kill all Jews arrived in the United Kingdom last week aboard a dinghy of migrants that was picked up by British law enforcement in the English Channel.
According to The Telegraph, the man known as Abu Wadei was arrested and charged with immigration offenses.
The matter was first reported by the Daily Mail. The newspaper, which relied in part on pro-Israel Jewish UK group Campaign Against Antisemitism, identified the man as Abu Wadei. According to the newspaper, Wadei is thought to be in his 30s and from Khan Younis. His full name is believed to be Mus’ab Abd al-Kareem al-Kassass.
A spokesman for the British Home Office told The Telegraph that Abu Wadei “has today been charged with knowingly arriving into the UK without leave and has been remanded in custody.”
It added that “the British public can be reassured that we take all steps necessary at all times to protect the nation’s security, including taking action in the Border Security Bill to give the police and immigration officers stronger powers to act where anyone poses a threat.”
Earlier in the day, The Mail reported that Abu Wadei’s precise whereabouts were unknown and that police said they were unaware of arrests in connection to the case.
Senior figures in the UK’s opposition Conservative Party assailed the Home Office for failing to reveal information about Abu Wadei. The Mail quoted Conservative Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philip as saying that Wadei was “a dangerous antisemite and a threat to national security.”
“There is a possibility the government has lost track of him, and there is also a risk he may try and use spurious human rights claims to stay in the country,” said Philip, accusing the Labour government of being soft on immigration.
The Daily Mail said Abu Wadei left Gaza before October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking war between Israel and Hamas.
According to the newspaper, Abu Wadei posted a video to Facebook in September in which he prayed for Allah to handle “the Jews and those loyal to them.”
The post did not appear on Abu Wadei’s Facebook on Monday, but the reported video was published by both The Mail and the CAA.
“Allah, kill them one by one, and don’t leave a single one,” the man in the video sings. “Allah, destroy them completely, disperse them completely and make the earth fall from under their feet.”
According to The Mail, Abu Wadei could also be seen speaking at Gaza rallies between 2017 and 2019, calling himself a member of “the tire-burning unit” — apparently a group of Palestinians who burned tires during Hamas-backed clashes with IDF troops on the Gaza border.
The Telegraph backed up this reporting.
In other photos, The Mail said, Abu Wadei could be seen brandishing assault rifles and posing alongside masked gunmen. An independent forensic analysis of at least one photo confirmed that the person brandishing the weapon was the same person who posted on Friday about arriving in the UK, The Mail said.
The newspaper said it had also uncovered an April 2018 interview with Hamas-affiliated outlet Felesteen, in which Abu Wadei boasted of launching incendiary kites at Israel.
“It only costs us three shekels [80 cents], but costs the occupation [Israel] more because of the fires it causes,” he was quoted as saying. “We started with [throwing] stones, moved to burning tires and setting the Israeli flag on fire, and then used kites.”
According to the CAA, Abu Wadei lived in Germany and Switzerland for the past two years “without drawing attention.” The group said it had obtained a Greek WhatsApp number apparently belonging to Abu Wadei.
Citing posts from TikTok and Facebook, the CAA wrote on X that Abu Wadei had arrived in Greece in July 2023 and left a month later for Switzerland — though, in the Facebook post cited by the CAA, Abu Wadei says he arrived in Belgium.
In a photo posted to Facebook on February 14 this year, Abu Wadei could be seen in Brussels. The Facebook account has some 11,000 followers, and features numerous posts mourning family and friends killed in the war in Gaza.
According to the CAA, a TikTok video posted in January 2025 showed Abu Wadei in Stuttgart, Germany, and further posts showed him camping in France between March 4 and 6. The TikTok account, said to have some 189,000 subscribers, appeared to no longer exist on Monday.
On March 7, a video captioned, “Thank God, we’ve arrived in Britain,” was posted to Abu Wadei’s Facebook account. In the video, he could be seen on a dinghy with several other people as they were approached by a boat that The Mail said belonged to the UK’s Border Force, which is under Britain’s Home Office.
According to The Mail, the dinghy is thought to be one of four, carrying a total of 235 migrants, that were picked up by the Border Force on Thursday morning.
On Friday, Abu Wadei posted on Facebook a picture of himself drinking coffee and holding a cigarette at an outdoor café. The Mail said the picture was originally posted by a friend of his, with an Arabic caption: “A thousand ‘thank Gods’ for Abu Wadei being safe. You have brightened up Britain.” The paper said it was unclear when and where the photo was taken.
The UK, like other countries, has seen a sharp rise in antisemitic attacks since October 7, 2023.
