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Arrests of Hamas Suspects Underline Jewish Insecurity in Europe
Masked German police officers arrive at an address in Berlin during an operation targeting alleged Hamas terrorists. Photo: Reuters/Paul Zinken
JNS.org – Unless you follow the news from Europe closely, it’s unlikely you’ll be aware that last week, seven alleged Hamas suspects believed to be planning attacks on Jewish targets were arrested during police raids in Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands.
It’s not entirely clear whether these police operations were coordinated across borders, although the details that have emerged since the arrests suggest that they were.
According to a statement from the German Federal Prosecutor’s office, three of the men were arrested in Berlin while traveling back from a weapons dump allegedly set up by one of them, whose name was given by police as Abdelhamid Al A. and who reportedly arrived in Germany earlier this year on the orders of Hamas leaders based in Lebanon. Both this suspect and the other two, named as Mohamed B. and Nazih R., were alleged to have visited the weapons dump on several occasions since the Oct. 7 pogrom executed by Hamas terrorists in the south of Israel.
A fourth man allegedly connected to the trio in Germany was arrested in Rotterdam by Dutch police and handed over to the Berlin authorities. All of them are said to be closely linked to the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades of Hamas, which played a key role in planning and executing the pogrom in which 1,200 people were murdered and more than 200 seized as hostages.
Separately, Danish police announced on the same day that three people had been arrested in Copenhagen on terrorism charges. In this case, however, the police said only that the detainees had intended to carry out an “act of terror” and didn’t specify whether there was a connection to Hamas. What they did do was advise the local Chabad rabbi to cancel a Chanukah candle-lighting ceremony in the center of the Danish capital on the grounds that the event was a security risk, indicating that the authorities regard terrorist attacks on Jewish communities as a clear and present danger, and that other terror suspects yet to be detained remain at large.
If it turns out that these detainees were dispatched for the purpose of carrying out terror attacks on European soil, then that would mark a major strategic departure for Hamas. The organization retains an ample presence in Europe but has restricted its activities to propaganda and fundraising—activities that European governments have attempted to clamp down before and after the Oct. 7 atrocities with varying degrees of commitment and success. But unlike its cousins ISIS and Al-Qaeda, Hamas has so far not engaged in violence against European targets, presumably out of concern that doing so would alienate public opinion and run afoul of law enforcement.
One can see that Hamas might be tempted to attack a specifically Jewish target rather than a general one, calculating that this would sit better with public opinion. During the last decade in France, Islamists carried out terror operations against both Jewish targets, including the Hyper Cacher kosher supermarket in Paris, and general ones, such as the Bataclan nightclub in the French capital; public outrage and protest was typically higher following attacks on the general targets rather than the Jewish ones.
Going further back, Hamas may believe, not unreasonably, that the response of many European non-Jews to a terror attack on a synagogue or Jewish school would echo the reaction of former French Prime Minister Raymond Barre to the October 1980 Palestinian terrorist attack on the Rue Copernic synagogue in Paris. Noting that four people had been killed outside the synagogue—only one of whom happened to be Jewish—Barre stated that “this odious attack was aimed at hitting Jews going to the synagogue but hit innocent French people who were crossing Rue Copernic.”
In other words, while violence and terror should be abhorred, it’s easier to rationalize such acts when Jews are killed rather than non-Jews, because Jews are less “innocent.”
Most European politicians today would run a mile from a Barre-like reaction. Their rhetoric, especially in Germany and France, though less so in Spain, has focused on reassuring Jewish communities that they are safe and insisting to the general population that the Jewish presence among them is both welcome and non-negotiable. Yet law enforcement has lagged behind these good intentions, while public opinion remains ambiguous, tolerating angry mass protests in capitals and major cities every week in support of Hamas. At the same time, media coverage of Israel’s defensive war in the Gaza Strip, which emphasizes the plight of Palestinian civilians and lays the lion’s share of blame for their ordeal at Israel’s door, bolsters public perceptions of the Jewish state as a rogue state. In the minds of more than a few, Israeli culpability makes attacks on Jews outside Israel far more understandable, if not wholly justifiable.
There is a further dimension to the problem. Episodes like last week’s arrests encourage the view that terrorism is something imported from the outside, meticulously planned before it is executed. In many cases, of course, that is true—but not in all of them. Arguably, European Jews have more to fear from the people living in their own neighborhoods than from terrorists flying in from the Middle East. Last week, for example, an unidentified Arab man wielding a knife entered a daycare center near Paris that caters to toddlers, many of whom are from Jewish families. “You’re a Jew, you’re a Zionist. Five of us are going to rape you, cut you up like they did in Gaza,” the intruder told the daycare center’s terrified director before fleeing the scene. The center has now been forced to close.
Stories like these, as well as pettier but still ugly acts of anti-Jewish bigotry and discrimination, are a daily occurrence in Europe at present. Meanwhile, the Israeli government has said that the war to eliminate Hamas is not going to end anytime soon. As terrible as it is to say so, we need to be preparing for the aftermath of a terror outrage aimed at Jews in a European, or even American, city. We can expect the relevant governments and police agencies to be supportive and sympathetic in such an eventuality. But the jury is out on the public at large—whether their reaction will be like that of Raymond Barre, or even worse.
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Antisemitic Incidents at Argentina Local Soccer Match Spark Official Investigations, Condemnations
Fans of Argentinian soccer club All Boys marched through the streets before their match against Atlanta soccer club, carrying a coffin draped with an Israeli flag alongside Iranian and Palestinian flags. Photo: Screenshot
Argentinian authorities and soccer officials have launched investigations following antisemitic incidents by Club Atlético All Boys fans during Sunday’s local match against Atlanta.
Atlanta, a soccer team based in the Villa Crespo neighborhood of Buenos Aires, has deep historical ties to Argentina’s Jewish community, which has long been a significant presence in the area.
This latest antisemitic incident took place outside the stadium before the game had even started.
All Boys fans were seen waving Palestinian and Iranian flags, carrying a coffin draped with an Israeli flag, and handing out flyers bearing messages like “Free Palestine” and “Israel and Atlanta are the same crap.”
Before a football match today against the Argentine sports club Atlanta, which is closely associated with the Jewish community, fans of the opposing team, All Boys, waved Islamic Republic and Palestinian flags while parading a coffin draped in an Israeli flag through the streets.… pic.twitter.com/IQs4v6eoFz
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) June 29, 2025
Then, during the match — which ended in a 0-0 draw — a drone carrying a Palestinian flag flew over the stadium, while some fans reportedly chanted anti-Israel slogans.
Local police confirmed they have issued citations to individuals accused of inciting public disorder and related offenses.
On Monday, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) condemned the incidents as “abhorrent” and confirmed the organization has opened a formal inquiry into the events.
“This is not folklore. This is discrimination,” the statement reads.
Argentina’s Security Minister Patricia Bullrich also announced that a criminal complaint has been filed, citing “acts of violence, expressions of racial and religious hatred, and public intimidation.”
In a post on X, the Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations (DAIA), the country’s Jewish umbrella organization, condemned the incidents and called on both local authorities and the soccer officials to “take firm action against these acts of hatred.”
“We urge the authorities to take all necessary actions and apply the full force of the law,” the statement reads. “Violence and discrimination must have no place in our society.”
Repudiamos enérgicamente las expresiones antisemitas ocurridas hoy en las inmediaciones del estadio Malvinas Argentinas.
Exigimos a las autoridades correspondientes, a la AFA y al Club All Boys que actúen con firmeza ante estos hechos de odio.
La violencia y la discriminación no… pic.twitter.com/3AmY7IQscY— DAIA (@DAIAArgentina) June 29, 2025
Since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Argentina has experienced a surge in antisemitic incidents and anti-Jewish hate crimes.
According to a recent report by DAIA, Argentina experienced a 15 percent increase in antisemitic activity last year, with 687 anti-Jewish hate crimes recorded — up from 598 incidents in 2023 — marking a significant rise nationwide.
The study indicates that 66 percent of the antisemitic incidents originated in the digital realm, with a significant rise in Nazi symbols and conspiracy theories, but there was also a 34 percent increase in reported physical assaults, with such hate crimes rising in schools and neighborhoods.
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Iranian nuclear program degraded by up to two years, Pentagon says
A satellite image of Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility. Photo: File.
The Pentagon said on Wednesday that US strikes 10 days ago had degraded Iran’s nuclear program by up to two years, suggesting the U.S. military operation likely achieved its goals despite a far more cautious initial assessment that leaked to the public.
Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesman, offered the figure at a briefing to reporters, adding that the official estimate was “probably closer to two years.” Parnell did not provide evidence to back up his assessment.
“We have degraded their program by one to two years, at least intel assessments inside the Department [of Defense] assess that,” Parnell told a news briefing.
U.S. military bombers carried out strikes against three Iranian nuclear facilities on June 22 using more than a dozen 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs and more than two dozen Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles.
The evolving U.S. intelligence about the impact of the strikes is being closely watched, after President Donald Trump said almost immediately after they took place that Iran’s program had been obliterated, language echoed by Parnell at Wednesday’s briefing.
Such conclusions often take the U.S. intelligence community weeks or more to determine.
“All of the intelligence that we’ve seen [has] led us to believe that Iran’s — those facilities especially, have been completely obliterated,” Parnell said.
Over the weekend, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, said that Iran could be producing enriched uranium in a few months, raising doubts about how effective US strikes to destroy Tehran’s nuclear program have been.
Several experts have also cautioned that Iran likely moved a stockpile of near weapons-grade highly enriched uranium out of the deeply buried Fordow site before the strikes and could be hiding it.
But US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said last week he was unaware of intelligence suggesting Iran had moved its highly enriched uranium to shield it from US strikes.
A preliminary assessment last week from the Defense Intelligence Agency suggested that the strikes may have only set back Iran’s nuclear program by months. But Trump administration officials said that assessment was low confidence and had been overtaken by intelligence showing Iran’s nuclear program was severely damaged.
According to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, the strikes on the Fordow nuclear site caused severe damage.
“No one exactly knows what has transpired in Fordow. That being said, what we know so far is that the facilities have been seriously and heavily damaged,” Araqchi said in the interview broadcast by CBS News on Tuesday.
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Switzerland Moves to Close Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s Geneva Office Over Legal Irregularities
Palestinians carry aid supplies received from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in the central Gaza Strip, May 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo
Switzerland has moved to shut down the Geneva office of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US- and Israeli-backed aid group, citing legal irregularities in its establishment.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza in late May, implementing a new aid delivery model aimed at preventing the diversion of supplies by Hamas, as Israel continues its defensive military campaign against the Palestinian terrorist group.
The initiative has drawn criticism from the UN and international organizations, some of which have claimed that Jerusalem is causing starvation in the war-torn enclave.
Israel has vehemently denied such accusations, noting that, until its recently imposed blockade, it had provided significant humanitarian aid in the enclave throughout the war.
Israeli officials have also said much of the aid that flows into Gaza is stolen by Hamas, which uses it for terrorist operations and sells the rest at high prices to Gazan civilians.
With a subsidiary registered in Geneva, the GHF — headquartered in Delaware — reports having delivered over 56 million meals to Palestinians in just one month.
According to a regulatory announcement published Wednesday in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce, the Federal Supervisory Authority for Foundations (ESA) may order the dissolution of the GHF if no creditors come forward within the legal 30-day period.
The Trump administration did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Swiss decision to shut down its Geneva office.
“The GHF confirmed to the ESA that it had never carried out activities in Switzerland … and that it intends to dissolve the Geneva-registered branch,” the ESA said in a statement.
Last week, Geneva authorities gave the GHF a 30-day deadline to address legal shortcomings or risk facing enforcement measures.
Under local laws and regulations, the foundation failed to meet several requirements: it did not appoint a board member authorized to sign documents domiciled in Switzerland, did not have the minimum three board members, lacked a Swiss bank account and valid address, and operated without an auditing body.
The GHF operates independently from UN-backed mechanisms, which Hamas has sought to reinstate, arguing that these vehicles are more neutral.
Israeli and American officials have rejected those calls, saying Hamas previously exploited UN-run systems to siphon aid for its war effort.
The UN has denied those allegations while expressing concerns that the GHF’s approach forces civilians to risk their safety by traveling long distances across active conflict zones to reach food distribution points.
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