Germany arrests three men suspected of targeting Jewish institutions | Hamas News
The men are suspected of of being ‘foreign operatives’ for Hamas and will appear in court Thursday, prosecutors say.
German authorities have arrested three men suspected of preparing a serious act of violence against Jewish targets in Germany, allegedly on behalf of the Palestinian group Hamas.
Prosecutors say they suspect the three men of being “foreign operatives” for Hamas and of being involved in procuring firearms and ammunition for attacks targeting Israeli or Jewish institutions in Germany.
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“In the course of today’s arrests, various weapons, including an AK-47 assault rifle and several pistols, as well as a considerable amount of ammunition, were found,” the federal prosecutors said in a statement.
The three men, identified under German privacy laws only as German citizen Abed Al G, Wael FM, born in Lebanon, and German citizen Ahmad I, were arrested in Berlin on Wednesday. A security source said the three were in their 30s or 40s.
The suspects are set to appear in court on Thursday, when a judge will determine whether the trio will be held in custody before trial.
Hamas is designated as a “terrorist” organisation by Germany, as well as the European Union (EU) as a whole.
In February, four Hamas members suspected of plotting attacks on Jewish institutions in Europe went on trial in Berlin in what prosecutors described as the first court case against members of the Palestinian group in Germany.
“Anti-terrorism” investigators observed the suspects meeting in Berlin for a weapon handover before operational forces intervened and discovered functional weapons, including a Glock pistol, a spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office said.
Forensic technicians are examining the arsenal, and searches have also taken place in the eastern city of Leipzig, where one of the suspects lives. Authorities also conducted a search in Oberhausen in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the spokesperson added.
Germany is one of Israel’s strongest allies due to the legacy of the Holocaust, and security is tight at synagogues and other Jewish institutions. It did not join France, the United Kingdom and several other countries last month in recognising Palestinian statehood.
Hamas has carried out hundreds of attacks against Israeli civilians over the years, but it has rarely operated outside Israel and the Palestinian territories. Questions will likely be raised over whether the suspects were acting on orders from Hamas’s leadership or if they were merely sympathisers with Hamas or the Palestinian cause.
The arrests come as Israel continues its genocidal war on Gaza despite mounting global outcry and repeated appeals for a ceasefire. At the same time, Israel has enforced a crippling aid blockade on the enclave, where most of its two million residents have been displaced multiple times and are now facing famine and extreme hunger.
Israeli forces have killed at least 66,148 Palestinians since the assault began nearly two years ago, according to local health officials, though experts warn the true toll could be three times higher.
The arrests also took place as Hamas said it would study US President Donald Trump’s peace proposal to end the war.
Tens of thousands of people have also recently rallied in Berlin, protesting German support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Demonstrators marched over the weekend following a call from a broad coalition of some 50 groups, including pro-Palestinian organisations, Medico International, Amnesty International, and the opposition Left Party, for a large demonstration.
They demanded “an end to German complicity” in Israel’s war and called for “an end to all military cooperation with Israel,” including “the import, export, and transit of weapons, ammunition, and other military equipment”.
