Middle East - Attacks planned? Suspected Hamas members in custody
Following the arrests of suspected Hamas members in Berlin and the Netherlands, three suspects are in custody. This was announced by the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office in Karlsruhe on Friday. The highest German prosecution authority accuses them of searching for weapons that were to be kept ready for possible attacks on Jewish institutions in Europe.
On Thursday, a total of four suspected members of the Islamist Hamas were arrested in Berlin and Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The three suspects from Berlin - the Egyptian Mohamed B. and the Lebanese-born Abdelhamid Al A. and Ibrahim El-R. - were brought before the investigating judge of the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) in Karlsruhe on Friday. He executed the arrest warrants.
The fourth man, the Dutchman Nazih R., will only come to Germany later as part of extradition proceedings. According to the public prosecutor's office in Amsterdam, he was brought before a magistrate and will remain behind bars until his extradition to Germany is heard. All four defendants are accused of membership of a foreign terrorist organization. They are said to have been closely linked to leaders of the military wing of the Islamist Hamas.
According to information from security circles, the men 's activities are not directly linked to the Hamas attack in Israel on October 7. Rather, the first reference to the four men is said to date back to last summer.
As far as the authorities know, there were no specific targets for the attack. In October, the three men, who lived in Berlin, had set off several times from Berlin in search of the weapons. They were supported by the man arrested in Rotterdam. According to dpa information, the security authorities already had the suspects on their radar before the tip-off about their search for weapons came from abroad.
Almost at the same time - also on Thursday - three terror suspects were arrested in Denmark. Two of them were taken into custody after a detention hearing, one person was initially released. Pre-trial detention in absentia was ordered for four other people who have not yet been arrested. The suspects are suspected of having prepared a terrorist attack. Details of the suspected terror plans have not yet been disclosed.
According to media reports, the three people arrested in Denmark were two men and a 19-year-old woman. One of the two men, a 29-year-old, has been released.
The Danish secret service told the news agency Ritzau that there was no direct connection between the arrests in Germany and those in Denmark. The Federal Public Prosecutor's Office in Karlsruhe said: "We do not comment on investigations in Denmark."
Carrying out attacks outside Israel and the Palestinian territories would be a change of strategy by Hamas. This could possibly have its origins in the growing Iranian influence on the military arm of Hamas.
According to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Germany has so far been a place of retreat for the 450 or so Hamas members based in Germany, where at most they have attempted to conduct propaganda and collect donations. In order to prevent this as well, two Hamas-affiliated associations were banned in 2002 and 2005. At the beginning of November, Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) issued a ban on Hamas' activities, which is intended, for example, to facilitate police measures at rallies.
Read also:
- A clan member is punished here
- Traffic lawyer warns: Don't talk to the police!
- Will he be convicted as Jutta's murderer after 37 years?
- He also wanted to kill his cousin
- The suspected Hamas members in custody include individuals from Lebanon and Berlin, as well as a Dutchman who will be extradited from Denmark.
- The arrests in Berlin and Rotterdam follow reports of the men searching for weapons in Germany, intended for potential attacks on Jewish institutions across Europe.
- The Federal Prosecutor's Office in Karlsruhe has accused the suspects of seeking weapons for potential terrorist activities, with links to Hamas leaders in the Middle East.
- The public prosecutor's office in Amsterdam has granted remand in custody for one of the men arrested in Rotterdam, while three others are in custody in Germany.
- The activities of these men are not directly linked to the recent attack by Hamas in Israel, but have been under surveillance by security authorities prior to the weapon search discovery.
- In Denmark, three terror suspects were arrested on Thursday, two of whom remain in custody, with pre-trial detentions ordered for four others.
- The Dutch secret service has confirmed no direct connection between the arrests in Germany and those in Denmark, while the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office in Karlsruhe remains silent on Danish investigations.
- If Hamas were to carry out attacks outside Israel and Palestinian territories, it would represent a significant shift in strategy, potentially driven by increasing Iranian influence on the militant group.
- Germany has long been a refuge for approximately 450 Hamas members, who primarily operated in the country to disseminate propaganda and collect donations.
- In an effort to combat Hamas activity, two Hamas-affiliated associations were banned in Germany in 2002 and 2005, with further restrictions on the group's operations handed down by the Federal Minister of the Interior in November 2021.
Source: www.stern.de
