Three held over plot to attack German sites ‘for Hamas’Staff WritersReutersThu, 2 October 2025 2:40AM
German police have arrested three men they suspect of preparing a serious act of violence against Jewish targets in Germany for Hamas, prosecutors say, a week before the second anniversary of the militant Islamist group’s attack on Israel.
Prosecutors suspect the three men of being foreign operatives for Hamas and of being involved in procuring firearms and ammunition to be used for assassinations targeting Israeli or Jewish institutions in Germany, they said.
“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, identified in line with German privacy laws only as German citizen Abed Al G, Wael F. M, 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.
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They were said to have been procuring firearms and ammunition since at least the summer of 2025.
Reuters was not immediately able to contact lawyers for the accused.
Hamas, which has been running the Gaza Strip and is backed by Iran, is designated as a terrorist organisation by the European Union and a number of other countries including Australia and the United States.
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 militants of the Palestinian group in Germany.
Anti-terrorism investigators observed the accused 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.
The German government did not join France, the United Kingdom, Australia and several other countries last month in defying Israel’s wishes and recognising Palestinian statehood.
with DPA
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