Gazan man who prayed for death to all Jews released from UK prison

A Gazan man who published footage of himself boasting of armed action against Israel and praying for the death of all Jews has been released from prison in the United Kingdom after entering the country illegally earlier this year.

The release of Abu Wadei, whose real name is Mosab Abdulkarim al-Gassas, was first reported by the Mail on Sunday, the Daily Mail’s weekend edition.

Abu Wadei was arrested and charged with immigration offenses in March after the dinghy of migrants he was aboard was picked up by British law enforcement in the English Channel.

He was initially sentenced to nine months in prison for immigration offenses but was briefly released in June as part of the UK government’s early release scheme, aimed at addressing overcrowding in prisons, the Mail reported. However, he was rearrested after breaching the terms of his release.

According to the Mail, Abu Wadei is staying at a bail hostel and wearing an electronic tag, and is not allowed to work or study in the UK.

Palestinian migrant who called for death to Jews released from prison.

Abu Wadee, who illegally entered the UK on a dinghy, was jailed for nine months in May but is now said to be staying back at his taxpayer funded hotel pic.twitter.com/fAbn0tuq59

— HJB News (@HJB_News__) December 23, 2025

Abu Wadei, who is originally from Khan Younis, left Gaza before the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led invasion and massacre in southern Israel, the Mail reported at the time of his arrest.

However, according to the report, Abu Wadei had taken part in various Hamas-backed activities in the Strip in the years prior to his departure.

He spoke at Gaza rallies between 2017 and 2019, the newspaper reported in March, and called 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.

According to The Times newspaper, he was seen at one of the border protests alongside the leader of the Abd-al-Qadir al-Husseini Brigades, a terror group allied with Hamas, and continued to take part in border protests until at least 2021.

Another photograph obtained by The Times showed Abu Wadei posing with two Kalashnikov rifles in front of a propaganda poster of the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade terror group.

Hamas linked Abu Wadee has been arrested. pic.twitter.com/pDseRuKrok

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Some photographs showed Abu Wadei brandishing assault rifles and posing alongside masked gunmen, the outlet said, adding that it had also uncovered an April 2018 interview with Hamas-affiliated outlet Felesteen in which he 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,” Abu Wadei was quoted as saying. “We started with [throwing] stones, moved to burning tires and setting the Israeli flag on fire, and then used kites.”

In September 2024, Abu Wadei, then reportedly living in mainland Europe, posted a video on Facebook in which he prayed for Allah to handle “the Jews and those loyal to them.

The post was apparently removed from his Facebook after the report, but the video attributed to him was published by both the Mail and the UK’s Campaign Against Antisemitism.

Citing unnamed sources within the UK’s Home Office, the Mail reported that Abu Wadei cannot be taken back into detention until there is a “realistic prospect” of deportation, as he has filed an asylum application in the country.

But the Home Office said in an official statement that “all foreign national offenders who receive a prison sentence in the UK are referred for deportation at the earliest opportunity.”

Abu Wadei’s release was “likely to raise understandable concerns among the public, given the nature of his alleged support for a terrorist organization and his antisemitic views,” said Community Security Trust, which organizes security for the UK’s Jewish community, on Sunday.

“There is a clear responsibility for the relevant authorities to ensure that this individual does not pose a threat to public safety, or to take appropriate action accordingly,” the CST statement added.

The chief executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, Gideon Falter, issued a similar call, saying that “the Home Office owes the public answers, and given the potential threat, we need them now.”

“British Jews can see that from Manchester to Sydney, the intifada has been well and truly globalized,” said Falter, referring to the Yom Kippur terror attack in Manchester in which two people were killed, and the December 14 Bondi Beach terror attack in which gunmen targeted a Hanukkah event, killing 15 people. “The authorities need to get a grip – we are out of time.”