Four suspected Hamas members suspected of plotting attacks on Jewish institutions in Europe have been arrested in Berlin and Rotterdam, Netherlands, the German Federal Prosecutor's Office said in a press release on Thursday, December 14.
Among the three men arrested in Berlin, two were born in Lebanon, Abdelhamid Al A. and Ibrahim El-R. ; the third, Mohamed B., is of Egyptian nationality. 57-year-old Nazih R. was arrested in Rotterdam under a European arrest warrant and is a Dutch national. According to German prosecutors, all four have been members of Hamas “for several years” and were in contact with Khalil Hamid Kharaz, one of the leaders of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamist movement, who was killed in late November in southern Lebanon by an Israeli drone.
According to investigators, Abdelhamid Al A. was commissioned by Hamas in the spring at the latest to locate an underground weapons depot that the organization had hidden in Europe. The weapons were then to be transferred to Berlin and made available for possible attacks on Jewish institutions in Europe. In October, Abdelhamid Al A., Mohamed B. and Nazih R. met several times in the German capital to assemble this arsenal, counting on the support of Ibrahim El-R.
The alert level has been raised in the Netherlands
In the Netherlands, the counter-terrorism coordinator spoke this week of the “real danger” of an attack in the country. On Wednesday the alert level was raised from 3 to 4 on a scale of 5 to “major”. Several cities have significantly increased police surveillance, particularly around Christmas markets.
In Germany, Thomas Haldenwang, President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, also warned of the danger of Islamist attacks. “It has been a long time since the threat was this great,” he said on November 29. However, he did not name Hamas as the main threat that day, but rather Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State organization. He was also concerned about individuals “radicalizing” themselves and carrying out knife or vehicle ramming attacks in public spaces or against Jewish targets.
Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers “Islamic State propaganda seduces a new generation of young people”: Interview with the head of the DGSI on the terrorist threat
“We have always feared it, but now we know it: Hamas and its followers have planned attacks in Europe,” replied Israeli Ambassador to Germany Ron Prosor on Wednesday evening. “These arrests show that our security services are particularly vigilant,” said German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, assuring that the “protection of Jews” was an “absolute priority” for her government.
You still have 45% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.