Four suspected members of Hamas They were arrested in the heart of Europe at the request of German prosecutors. There were three arrests Germanyin Berlin, while the fourth in Rotterdam, in Netherlands. The men were accused of planning attacks against Jewish goals in different European countries. Nazih R. was detained by the police in the Dutch city, Abdelhamid Al A and Ibrahim El-R, born in Lebanon, and the Egyptian citizen Mohamed B, in the German capital. Prosecutors said the suspects were all long-time members of the pro-Palestinian group.
The arrests in Germany and the Netherlands
The international police operation, Portal explained, was related to the discovery of weapons believed to have been used attacks against unspecified Jewish institutions in Europe. Those arrested are accused of belonging foreign terrorist organization and, according to the federal prosecutor's office, they had “close contacts with the leaders of the military wing of Hamas.”
It was also revealed that one of the suspects, who was based in Berlin, had found a secret cache weapons, which Hamas had previously established in Europe. The German investigators further reconstructed that he received instructions from the leading Hamas leaders in Lebanon.
The task of the arrested commando was to bring the weapons from the secret depot to Berlin and thus be prepared for possible attacks on Jewish targets in Europe. For this reason, the three people arrested in Berlin have been doing different things since last October Travel from the German capital, and in these missions they were assisted by the man arrested in Holland. Security sources interviewed by DPA said that the activities of those arrested were not directly related to the October 7 attacks.
Other three suspects arrested Denmark, the BBC wrote, will be charged with terrorist crimes, Inspector Flemming Drejer told journalists. The Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen He said the threat was “as serious as possible.” The men arrested on Danish territory were due to appear in closed hearings. Inspector Drejer said an investigation uncovered a transnational network of people who were preparing an attack and had connections to criminal gangs.
Terror warnings are increasing in Europe
“Following the terrible attacks by Hamas on the Israeli population, attacks on Jews in Jewish institutions have also increased in our country in recent weeks,” said the German Justice Minister. Marco Buschmann, in a statement about the arrests. “We must therefore do everything so that the Jews in our country do not have to fear for their safety again,” the minister continued. The Israeli Prime Minister's Office Benjamin Netanyahu wrote in a statement on X that those arrested “acted on behalf of Hamas.” While federal prosecutors in Germany have linked the plot to Hamas, Danish authorities have not confirmed any links to the group.
The European authorities have raised the level Danger of attacks by Islamists who were radicalized by the war between Israel and Hamas. The Netherlands increased the Alert level Terrorism occurred in the country for the first time since 2019. The threat increased from 3 to 4, the second highest level. The decision was taken by the National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Security (NCTV) in light of the growing threat posed by jihadist terrorism following the conflict in the Gaza Strip and the recent burning of copies of the Quran in Europe. The possibility of an attack – it is explained – is now “real” and no longer just “imaginable”.