The Department for Education (DfE) is assessing information regarding four independent schools after the charity commission opened a statutory inquiry into the Al-Khair Foundation (Al-Khair) which runs the schools.

UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) last month sent a report to the DfE, highlighting alleged links between individuals associated with Al-Khair and Hamas.  On 31 July Mohammad Yousef Hasna, who described himself on LinkedIn as global director of the Al Khair Foundation, was arrested in London and now faces extradition to the United States.  Hasna is charged with conspiring to provide material support to Hamas, conspiring to finance terrorism, and financing terrorism, each of which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

UKLFI wrote to the DfE’s Counter-Extremism Division on 10 July 2026, enclosing a report on Al-Khair’s links to the Hamas terrorist group and raising concerns about safeguarding, extremism and compliance with the Prevent duty at schools operated by the charity.

The four schools run by Al Khair Foundation are Al-Khair Preparatory School in Croydon; Al-Khair Preparatory School in Oldbury, Birmingham; and Al-Khair Secondary Schools for Boys and Girls in Croydon.  Over 550 children attend the four schools. The annual school fees are £5468 for the Croydon schools and £3600 for the Birmingham school.

The DfE confirmed to UKLFI that the matter had been passed to its Counter-Extremism and Non-School Education team and that officials were reviewing the information provided.

On 11 August 2026 the DfE told UKLFI: “We are continuing to work with other government departments and agencies to assess all the information that has been provided to us and determine next steps.”

Concerns over safeguarding and Prevent

UKLFI’s letter to the DfE warned that the schools could be exposed to safeguarding and Prevent-related risks arising from Al-Khair’s employment of individuals allegedly linked to proscribed terrorist organisations and its relationships with outside organisations and individuals alleged to have similar links.

UKLFI’s investigation found that at least two people employed by Al-Khair had been identified as Hamas operatives, while another employee had significant links with Hamas figures. The report also documented relationships between the charity and organisations or individuals that had previously been investigated or sanctioned over alleged terrorist links.

UKLFI told the DfE that these findings raised questions about whether adequate due diligence and safeguarding procedures had been applied to school staff, outside speakers and partner organisations, as well as whether appropriate arrangements were in place to protect children from extremist influence.

Schools are subject to the statutory Prevent duty, requiring them to assess the risk of pupils being drawn into terrorism, challenge extremist narratives and manage potentially harmful external influences. UKLFI said the evidence it had gathered justified examination of whether those safeguards were operating effectively at the Al-Khair schools.

Al-Khair finances

Following the October 7 Hamas Massacres, in its disclosures to UK authorities,  Al-Khair reported that its total gross income nearly doubled from approximately £31.3 million in the year to July 2023, to approximately £74.8 million in the year to July 2025. Al-Khair represented that it spent approximately £69.3 million on charitable activities in the fiscal year ending July 31, 2025.

The Charity Commission has now launched a Statutory Enquiry against Al-Khair and imposed restrictions on the charity’s financial activities because of what it described as a possible “serious risk to charitable funds”. This followed a complaint submitted by UKLFI to the Charity Commission on 9 July 2026 and the arrest of Mohammad Yousef Hasna. The Commission’s investigation will examine the trustees’ management of the charity, due diligence on international partners, monitoring of the ultimate destination of money sent overseas and whether any failings constitute misconduct or mismanagement.

A UKLFI spokesperson said:

“We welcome the Department for Education’s review. The allegations concerning Al-Khair Foundation are extremely serious in themselves, but they become still more concerning when an organisation facing such allegations is also responsible for the education and safeguarding of children.

“UKLFI alerted the Department to these concerns because schools must have robust procedures to protect pupils from extremist influence and from being drawn into support for terrorism. We hope the Department will now examine carefully the governance of all four schools, their relationships with the Foundation and its personnel, and whether their safeguarding and Prevent obligations have been properly discharged.