Seven people arrested in Europe over ‘Hamas terror plots’

Israel says ‘Hamas infrastructure on European soil’ exposed

Seven people, including four suspected Hamas members, have been arrested in Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands on suspicion of planning attacks on Jewish institutions in Europe.

Israel’s Mossad spy agency said Denmark had exposed “Hamas infrastructure on European soil”, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said.

Three of the suspects were detained in Berlin and another in the Netherlands – all four long-standing members of Hamas with close links to the leadership of its military branch, German prosecutors said. A Hamas official denied those held were linked to the group.

Police chiefs Flemming Drejer and Peter Dahl in Copenhagen (EPA)

Danish police said three people were arrested across Denmark and would be charged under the terrorism clause of the criminal code and put in front of a judge for preliminary questioning.

The person detained in the Netherlands was held on suspicion of plotting to carry out “an act of terror”, officials added.

“This is extremely serious,” Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen said. “It is of course completely unacceptable in relation to Israel and Gaza that there is someone who takes a conflict somewhere else in the world into Danish society,” she added.

Israel is pressing on with its operation to destroy Hamas in the Gaza Strip, following the group’s assault on Israeli towns in October that left around 1,200 Israelis dead.

The arrests come as Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip continues (AFP via Getty Images)

Authorities issued only the first names and surname initials of those detained. Dutch national Nazih R was arrested by police in Rotterdam, while Lebanon-born Abdelhamid Al A and Ibrahim El-R, as well as Egyptian national Mohamed B, were arrested in the German capital, German prosecutors said.

Abdelhamid Al A had been assigned by Hamas leaders in Lebanon with finding sources for weapons, prosecutors said.

The weapons were reportedly due to be taken to Berlin and kept ready for potential terrorist attacks against Jewish institutions.

“Following the terrible attacks by Hamas on the Israeli population, attacks on Jews in Jewish institutions have also increased in our country in recent weeks,” German justice minister Marco Buschmann said.

Danish police said the raids followed investigations made in cooperation with partners abroad, which had revealed a network of people preparing a terrorist attack.