German police arrested three males they think of making ready a severe assault in opposition to Jewish targets in Germany for Hamas, prosecutors stated on Wednesday, per week earlier than the second anniversary of the Palestinian Islamist terror group’s assault on Israel.
Prosecutors suspect the three males of being overseas operatives for Hamas and of being concerned in procuring firearms and ammunition for use for assassinations concentrating on Israeli or Jewish establishments in Germany, they stated.
“In the middle of immediately’s arrests, varied weapons, together with an AK-47 assault rifle and a number of other pistols, in addition to a substantial quantity of ammunition, had been discovered,” the federal prosecutors stated in a press release.
The three, recognized in step with German privateness legal guidelines solely as German citizen Abed Al G., Wael F. M., born in Lebanon, and German citizen Ahmad I., had been arrested in Berlin on Wednesday. A safety supply stated the three had been of their 30s or 40s.
Reuters was not instantly in a position to contact attorneys for the accused.
Hamas, which has been working Gaza and is backed by Iran, is designated as a terrorist group by the European Union and quite a few different nations together with the USA.
In February, 4 Hamas members suspected of plotting assaults on Jewish establishments in Europe went on trial in Berlin in what prosecutors described as the primary court docket case in opposition to Hamas terrorists in Germany.
Members of an elite police unit patrol close to the the Beth Zion Synagogue forward of the commemoration ceremony for the eighty fifth anniversary of Kristallnacht in Berlin, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023 (John MacDougall, Pool by way of AP)
Anti-terrorism investigators noticed the accused assembly in Berlin for a weapon handover earlier than operational forces intervened and found purposeful weapons, together with a Glock pistol, stated a spokesperson for the prosecutor’s workplace.
Forensic technicians are analyzing the arsenal and searches have additionally taken place within the japanese metropolis of Leipzig, the place one of many suspects lives. Authorities additionally carried out a search in Oberhausen within the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the spokesperson added.
Germany is one among Israel’s strongest allies because of the legacy of the Holocaust and safety is tight at synagogues and different Jewish establishments. It didn’t be a part of France, Britain and a number of other different nations final month in defying Israeli needs and recognizing Palestinian statehood, a transfer that each Israel and the Trump administration have denounced as a reward for the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, terror onslaught that began the continued Gaza conflict.
Police in lots of European nations have been on heightened alert because the October 7 assault. Some forces have boosted safety and patrols in opposition to potential assaults in opposition to Jewish or Israeli websites in current months amid a spike of antisemitic violence on the continent and past.
The announcement of the arrests got here as Hamas has but to reply to a 20-point plan by US President Donald Trump — which incorporates disarmament of the terrorist group — to finish the conflict and free the hostages held in Gaza.
