14- December-2023

German authorities say they have made four arrests of suspected Hamas members linked to an alleged plot to attack Jewish sites.

Prosecutors said the suspects intended to store weapons in Berlin for possible use in an attack.

Danish authorities also said they had arrested three people accused犀利士 of preparing an attack.

Denmark’s intelligence agency said the Danish and German investigations were not directly linked.

German prosecutors said in a statement that three suspects linked to Hamas were arrested in Berlin and one in the Netherlands. Hamas, which runs Gaza, is banned across Europe as a terrorist group.

The arrests came after police raided five apartments and a restaurant in Berlin, German media reported.

The three held in Berlin were Lebanese and Egyptian, according to German prosecutors.

The fourth suspect, a Dutch national, was picked up in Rotterdam by Dutch police who were acting on information from the German authorities.

All four are believed to be long-standing members of Hamas.

The German prosecutors said the four were “closely linked” to the leadership of Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades.

They added that one of the four, named as Abdelhamid Al A, had been tasked by Hamas leaders in Lebanon with locating a “depot with weapons in Europe, which the organisation had covertly set up there in the past”.

“The weapons were due to be taken to Berlin and kept in a state of readiness in view of potential terrorist attacks against Jewish institutions in Europe.”

Denmark says 4 arrested over suspected terror plot

Three suspects were arrested in Denmark, and one was arrested in the Netherlands. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later claimed that the suspects were linked to militant group Hamas.

Danish police said they prevented a terror attack on Thursday after announcing that four people had been arrested.

Three suspects were arrested in Denmark, and a fourth was arrested in the Netherlands.

“The investigation has revealed that a network of people has been preparing a terrorist act,” said Flemming Drejer, chief superintendent of the Danish intelligence agency, PET.

“The arrests and the raids we’re carrying out today are based on an intensive investigation that PET has carried out in close cooperation with our partners abroad,” Drejerm said.

Police raids were ongoing across the country, he added.

What do we know about the alleged terror plot?

Drejer said the suspects would face a custody hearing within 24 hours, likely behind “double closed doors,” meaning that he could not give details about the case, any target or motive.

He said the arrests were “carried out in close collaboration with our foreign partners” and that police had “a special focus” on Jewish institutions.