Four people have been arrested in Germany and the Netherlands on suspicion of involvement in a cross-border Hamas terror plot, German prosecutors have said. The suspects are accused of planning to obtain weapons to target Jewish institutions in Europe.
German prosecutors said three men were detained in Berlin and a fourth in Rotterdam on Thursday. They are described as longstanding members of Hamas with links to its military wing who have participated in Hamas operations abroad. One of the suspects, identified as Abdelhamid Al A, is accused of searching for an underground weapons cache in Europe since spring 2023 on orders from Hamas leaders in Lebanon.
The cache was allegedly created previously by Hamas, and the weapons were to be taken to Berlin for potential terrorist attacks against Jewish institutions. In October, three of the men repeatedly travelled from Berlin to search for the weapons, while the fourth provided assistance. The arrests come after warnings from European counter-terror officials about increased attack risk due to the Israel-Hamas war.
Separately, three others were arrested in Denmark on terrorism offences, which Danish politicians linked to Hamas. Danish police said a network had been preparing a terrorist act across borders, but clarified the arrests in Denmark and Germany were not directly connected.
