The Department for Education (DfE) is assessing concerns raised about a school-running charity under investigation over alleged links to Hamas.
Earlier this month, the Charity Commission opened a statutory inquiry into the Al-Khair Foundation and restricted its spending as the regulator looks into an allegation that the charity and its partners had connections to Hamas and had funded the organisation.
This followed the Croydon-based aid charity submitting a serious incident report after an employee of one of its implementing partner organisations overseas, Mohammad Yousef Hasna, was detained during a visit to the UK on 31 July on suspicion of terrorism offences.
Counter Terrorism Policing London is also investigating concerns in relation to the charity and carried out two searches at Croydon properties on 31 July.
After being contacted by UK Lawyers for Israel about four schools run by the charity, the DfE has now confirmed it too is assessing concerns.
A DfE spokesperson said: “We have received the concerns raised by UK Lawyers for Israel and we are urgently working to assess them, alongside other government departments and agencies.
“We are reviewing the information at pace to determine next steps. We cannot comment on ongoing investigations.”
Three of the schools run by the Al-Khair Foundation are in Croydon while the other establishment is in Oldbury, Birmingham. All four were rated “good” by Ofsted in their most recent assessments.
The charity said in a statement that its schools serve “as a positive antidote to extremism and isolationism” where pupils are “specifically taught about online safety and the risks of radicalisation”.
It said that Hasna “has had no involvement or contact with these schools whatsoever”.
“We categorically deny that Al-Khair Foundation as an organisation is linked to Hamas or in any way supports, enables or funds Hamas,” the statement reads.
“We are committed to the highest standards of governance, compliance and oversight in ensuring that aid only reaches its intended beneficiaries: poor and marginalised people in the communities we serve.
“We are fully cooperating with all relevant authorities in matters raised about our organisation, international partners and individuals. We are cooperating with the statutory inquiry being conducted by the Charity Commission and are committed to assisting other ongoing enquiries, including requests for information from the Department for Education.
“Mr Hasna is not an employee of Al-Khair Foundation but works for one of our many implementing partners overseas. We provided information about this to the Charity Commission on 2 August, when we voluntarily and swiftly submitted a serious incident report after learning of Mr Hasna’s detention, and we will provide more detail through the statutory inquiry.”
