Information
A Berlin court has sentenced four members of a Hamas-linked underground cell to prison terms ranging from four and a half to six years, after finding them guilty of stockpiling weapons intended for terror attacks across Europe. The men, aged 36 to 58 and all born in Lebanon, were found to have acted as foreign operatives for the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing. Potential targets identified by prosecutors included the Israeli embassy in Berlin, the US Ramstein airbase, and sites in Poland, Bulgaria and Denmark. All four denied being Hamas members and have been in custody since their arrest in December 2023.
The case originated from a tip received by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office shortly after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Since then, German prosecutors have pursued a broader crackdown, with additional suspects arrested in Berlin, London, at the German-Czech border, the German-Danish border, and most recently at Berlin Airport in January following a flight from Beirut. Hamas is designated a terrorist organisation by the United States, Israel and Germany.
Source: AFP, dpa, Reuters
So What
It is possible that similar Hamas-linked cells exist elsewhere across the EU and North America, though it is likely that police and security services in those areas have been able to limit their infiltration to some degree. It is also likely that intelligence gathered by Israel during offensive operations in Gaza has contributed to the uncovering of cells such as this one, as the capture of battlefield intelligence from command posts would have provided actionable leads to partner services.
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