Hamas should no longer be included on an influential list of international terrorist organizations, an EU court has ruled, according to the Independent.

The General Court of the European Union, the second-highest court in the bloc, found that the inclusion of the group was not based on a "concrete examination" of Hamas's acts but on "imputations derived from the media and the internet".

In a statement, the court acknowledged that Hamas contests its inclusion on the list, maintained since it was created in 2001. Regularly reviewed, the list allows the bloc to freeze funds going towards those named, and acts as "a regulation to combat terrorism", the court said.

The court said it was nevertheless maintaining the effects of the measures for three months in order to ensure that any possible future freezing of funds would be effective.

And in a statement, the court stressed that taking Hamas off the list was a decision taken on "procedural grounds", rather than implying "any substantive assessment of the question of the classification of Hamas as a terrorist group".