The UK-based Palestinian Return Center (PRC) has been granted observer status by the UN Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO), allowing for the terror-connected outfit to advance its legitimacy and access once unattainable funding.

Israel Mission to the United Nations released a statement in protest of the ruling, saying that the group specializes in promoting “anti-Israel propaganda in Europe,” Reuters reports. Israel banned the PRC in 2010 after it became clear that the group was a front for Hamas, describing the group as “an organizational and a coordinating wing of Hamas in Europe,” an Israeli government statement on the matter read.

The group has brought the militant chief of Hamas in Gaza, Ismail Haniya, to speak at its annual anti-Israel conference, according to The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center.

Ron Prosor, who serves as Israel’s ambassador to the UN, responded to the committee ruling: “Until today, the U.N. has given Hamas discounts and let it strengthen its activities,” he said. “Now, the U.N. went one step further, and gave Hamas a welcoming celebration at its main entrance, allowing it to be a full participant.”

The Hamas-linked group easily gained its UN recognition, with some twelve countries voting in favor, including the Islamist nations of Iran, Pakistan, Sudan, and Turkey, and the dictatorial regimes in Venezuela, China, and Cuba. 

The United States, Uruguay, and Israel were the only three countries to vote against acceptance of the Hamas-tied outfit.

Not only will the terror-linked group attain a boost in legitimacy, PRC will also be allowed access to UN sites and conferences throughout the world, now that the organization has official status as an NGO.

The PRC also has extensive ties to the global Muslim Brotherhood, of which Hamas is a member, as shown in its founding charter. Current and past directors of the PRC have also been directors of the Muslim Association of Britain, which is a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in the UK, reports The Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Watch.