3 alleged Hamas members arrested in Germany on suspicion of plotting
attacks on Jewish institutions
[October 02, 2025]
By STEFANIE DAZIO
BERLIN (AP) — Three alleged members of the Palestinian militant group
Hamas were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of plotting attacks on
Israeli or Jewish institutions in Germany, officials said.
The suspects are set to appear in court Thursday. A judge will then
determine whether the trio can be held in custody ahead of a trial.
Germany’s federal prosecutor said the three have been involved in
procuring firearms since earlier this summer. Various weapons, including
an AK-47 rifle, and ammunition were found during a raid.
Hamas, however, said in a statement Wednesday that it has no connection
to the three suspects, calling the allegations of a link to the group
baseless and aimed at “undermining the German people’s sympathy with our
Palestinian people and their legitimate struggle against the Zionist
occupation."
Hamas also said it has always confined its armed struggle to Israel and
the Palestinian territories and would continue to do so.
Two of the suspects are German citizens. The federal prosecutor’s office
described the third as being born in Lebanon. They were only named as
Abed Al G., Wael F. M., and Ahmad I., in line with German privacy rules.
Alexander Dobrindt, Germany's federal interior minister, said Wednesday
that the country has become an area where alleged terrorists now
operate, German news agency dpa reported. He added that authorities must
be prepared to defend against it.
Hamas has carried out hundreds of attacks against Israeli civilians over
the years but has rarely operated outside Israel and the Palestinian
territories. Questions will likely be raised over whether the suspects
were acting on orders from Hamas’ leadership or if they were merely
sympathizers with Hamas or the Palestinian cause.
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The arrests took place as Hamas said it would study U.S. President
Donald Trump's peace proposal to end the Israeli-Hamas war in Gaza.
A Hamas-led attack on southern Israel nearly two years ago killed
some 1,200 people and 251 others were abducted. Most of the hostages
have been freed under previous ceasefire deals, but 48 are still
held in Gaza — around 20 believed by Israel to be alive.
Israel’s subsequent campaign in Gaza has killed more than 66,000
Palestinians and wounded nearly 170,000 others, according to Gaza’s
Health Ministry. The ministry does not differentiate between
civilians and militants in its toll, but has said women and children
make up around half of the dead.
Police in many European countries have been on heightened alert
since the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks. Some forces have boosted security
and patrols against possible attacks against Jewish or Israeli sites
in recent months amid a spike of antisemitic violence on the
continent and beyond.
In December 2023, four alleged Hamas members were arrested on
suspicion of organizing weapons caches across Europe. It was a pilot
case for prosecutors and went to trial in February.
The men are accused of seeking out some weapons depots set up years
ago — as well as setting up new ones — for the militant group across
Europe for later attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets on the
continent, prosecutors previously said.
The weapons were allegedly moved around Europe in preparation for
the Oct. 7, 2023 attack, prosecutors said.
All four had important positions within Hamas, prosecutors asserted.
The trial remains ongoing.
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