4 males who the German authorities say are senior members of Hamas have been arrested on Thursday on expenses that they have been making preparations to assault Jewish establishments in Europe, German officers mentioned.
Three of the lads have been taken into custody in Berlin and one other was arrested by Dutch police within the port metropolis of Rotterdam, Marco Buschmann, Germany’s justice minister, mentioned in a press release.
The German federal prosecutor’s workplace mentioned the 4 males have been longstanding members of Hamas with ties to its army wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, and that they’ve been energetic within the group’s “international operations.” Hamas controls the Gaza Strip and carried out assaults on Israel on Oct. 7 during which 1,200 folks have been killed, igniting a struggle with Israel.
Prosecutors gave few particulars of the alleged plot. They mentioned the lads had been ordered by Hamas leaders in Lebanon to deliver weapons to the German capital, the place they might be used to assault the Jewish neighborhood in Europe. It was unclear whether or not the lads had smuggled weapons into Berlin or not.
The authorities additionally mentioned the lads have been tracked in October 2023 as they looked for weapons that Hamas operatives had saved in an underground cache in Europe a while in the past. It’s not instantly clear if the lads ever discovered the cache.
The three males arrested in Berlin embrace a citizen of Egypt, recognized by authorities solely as Mohamed B., and two males born in Lebanon, recognized as Abdelhamid Al A. and Ibrahim El R., prosecutors mentioned. The person arrested within the Netherlands was a Dutch citizen, whose title was given solely as Nazih R.
Legal professionals for the three males couldn’t instantly be reached. The three males arrested in Germany have been scheduled to look earlier than a choose on Friday.
“The arrest of 4 suspected members of the terrorist group Hamas exhibits that our safety authorities are extraordinarily vigilant and act constantly,” Nancy Faeser, Germany’s inside minister who’s liable for nationwide safety, mentioned in a press release. “We now have the Islamist scene in our sights.”
