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Alleged Hamas Terrorists Planning Attacks on Jewish Targets Arrested in European Police Operations
Masked German police officers arrive at an address in Berlin during an operation targeting alleged Hamas terrorists. Photo: Reuters/Paul Zinken
Seven alleged Hamas suspects were arrested on Thursday during police operations in Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands while planning terrorist operations against Jewish targets in Europe.
Three of the suspects were arrested in Berlin after they collected weapons from a depot, according to a statement from the office of Germany’s Federal Prosecutor General. A fourth man was arrested in the Dutch city of Rotterdam and will be extradited to Karlsruhe in Germany, where all four will appear before a federal judge who will decide whether to detain them ahead of their trial. In addition to the arrests, police in Berlin also carried out searches of five apartments and a restaurant.
The remaining three men were arrested in Copenhagen, according to a statement from Denmark’s PET security agency. Chief Inspector Flemming Drejer of the Danish police said the three would be charged with terror offenses.
It is not clear whether the operations were linked, although the Dutch citizen arrested in Rotterdam in relation to the German inquiry may also be connected to the Danish investigation, the BBC reported, quoting Danish authorities.
German authorities named the four men detained in Karslruhe as Abdelhamid Al A., Mohamed B., Ibrahim El-R., and Nazih R. All of them are said to be closely linked to the Al Qassam Brigades of Hamas, which played a key role in planning and executing the Oct. 7 pogrom in southern Israel in which over 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 seized as hostages.
According to the German news outlet taggesschau, Abdelhamid Al A. arrived in Germany earlier this year, tasked with setting up a weapons depot on behalf of Hamas on the instructions of Hamas leaders in Lebanon. Both he, Mohamed B., and Nazih R. were reported to have visited the depot several times during October, in the wake of the atrocities in Israel.
Germany’s Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann praised the operation, which he characterized as a “contribution to ensuring that Jews in Europe can continue to live in security and peace.”
He added: “We must do everything we can to ensure that Jews in our country do not have to fear for their safety again.”
German analysts noted that attacks on Jews in Germany would mark a radical departure for Hamas, which has historically used the country as a base for propaganda and fundraising. Two associations raising donations for Hamas were closed down in 2002 and 2005 respectively, while in the weeks since the Oct. 7 pogrom, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser has banned pro-Hamas organizations that include Samidoun, which bills itself as a solidarity organization with Palestinian prisoners and remains active in North America.
According to the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, around 450 members of Hamas are thought to be active in the country.
Following the arrests in Copenhagen, a public menorah lighting ceremony to mark the final night of the Hanukkah festival was canceled.
Chabad Denmark, which organized the event in the Danish capital’s City Hall Square, said that they had been advised by police to cancel the menorah lighting. Rabbi Yitzi Loewenthal said he had been advised by police that holding such a ceremony outdoors was a grave risk, given the “security situation.”
Loewenthal told the Danish news outlet kosmopol that he would still light the menorah’s candles in the square on Thursday evening, but that he would do so “without an audience.” He urged the Jewish community to remain vigilant but not to live in fear, “because that’s what those who sow terror want.”
The post Alleged Hamas Terrorists Planning Attacks on Jewish Targets Arrested in European Police Operations first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.