A Hamas-supporting Gazan migrant who called for the death of all Jews was arrested in the UK on Monday after arriving in Kent on a migrant boat on Friday.
The arrival of the man, known as Abu Wadei, on British shores was first revealed by the advocacy group Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA).
On Monday, British media reported that Wadei was arrested by Immigration Enforcement on Sunday night and is currently in police custody.
In a video posted to his TikTok account on Friday, keffiyeh-clad Abu Wadei could be seen in a crowded inflatable dinghy surrounded by people in life jackets. The words “Thank Allah we have arrived in Britain” appeared on the screen.
Earlier today, this Palestinian man, who goes by Abu Wadei, posted a video on TikTok showing the final steps of his journey from Gaza to Britain, in a dinghy. We have been urgently looking into who he is.Source: https://t.co/hBZ7Xd0Im4 pic.twitter.com/GTrjeZUvFq
— Campaign Against Antisemitism (@antisemitism) March 7, 2025
“Earlier today, this Palestinian man, who goes by Abu Wadei, posted a video on TikTok showing the final steps of his journey from Gaza to Britain in a dinghy. We have been urgently looking into who he is,” the CAA wrote on social media.
A few days earlier, he posted a video at a bus stop called “Maison Blanche.” The Jerusalem Post found the exact bus stop, which is located in the French town of Loon-Plage, just outside the northern coastal city of Dunkirk. The bus stop is just a seven-minute drive from the Dover-Dunkirk ferry route.
Who is Abu Wadei?
The CAA claims his real name is Mus’ab Abd al-Kareem al-Qassas. According to his Facebook, he is originally from Gaza City but lived in Khan Yunis.
In one video uncovered by the campaign, Abu Wadei prays “Oh Allah, punish the Jews and those who support them. Oh Allah, kill them all, and do not leave a single one of them.”
The Post found a Facebook post from October 7, 2023, in which he wrote, “The al-Aqsa flood will not stop until all your dams collapse and you are swept away by your blood.”
In another video, Abu Wadei stated that he was a member of the “tire burning unit,” responsible for throwing firebombs and rocks at IDF soldiers manning the border with Gaza during the Hamas-endorsed violent border riots in 2018 and 2019.
His social media accounts feature many photos of him posing with assault rifles or slinging rocks. He also appeared to have attended an event addressed by former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
Journey from Gaza to the UK
THE CAA detailed his journey to the UK following an extensive investigation. Abu Wadei reportedly arrived in Greece in July 2023 and departed a month later, however, the campaign claimed to have found his Whatsapp number, which has a Greek country code.
He then traveled to Switzerland and was next seen in Stuttgart, Germany, a year and a half later on January 19, 2025, in a video. Between March 4 and March 6, he appeared to be in France.
According to his Facebook account, he left Gaza on June 26, 2022.
The CAA also revealed that despite having extensive social media posts depicting his involvement in violence in Gaza, Abu Wadei had been living “without attracting attention in Switzerland and Germany for two years.”
The advocacy group called on the UK’s Home Office to secure his arrest and investigate him, deeming him “a threat to public security.”
“A jihadi whose stated ambition is ‘to die for the sake of Allah’ and [who] prayed for the slaughter of all Jews must not be permitted to be at large in this country.”
Pleas to the Home Office
According to a CAA-penned exclusive in the Daily Mail, the Home Office “refused” to say whether it was aware of Wadei’s militant background or whether he had freedom of movement in Britain. However, it did say it was “committed to ending small boat crossings, which undermine border security, and restoring order to the asylum system to ensure that the rules are respected and enforced.
“While it is a long-standing rule that we never comment on individual cases or operational matters, the British public can be reassured that we take all steps necessary at all times to protect the nation’s security,” the Home Office said.
British Shadow Secretary of State for Justice Robert Jenrick wrote on X/Twitter, “This man must be hunted down and deported. As I’ve been saying for years, the small boats crisis is a national security crisis.”
He later posted a second message, saying that it has been “24 hours since we learned this gun-wielding extremist has entered the country. The Home Secretary won’t say whether he’s in detention or in a hotel, free to roam our streets. Where is he?”
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, told GB News, “The Home Office needs to identify where this despicable individual is and, frankly, remove him from the country back to Palestine immediately.
“He clearly has no place in the United Kingdom and potentially poses a threat to our fellow citizens,” Philp said. “This just illustrates why it is so important to get control of our borders and to stop these boat crossings.”