Germany announced the arrests Thursday of four men it said are members of Hamas who were planning attacks on European Jewish sites. A prosecutor said the four are longtime Hamas members with connections to the terrorist group's military branch, the Wall Street Journal reports. Hamas and its affiliates are banned in Europe, per the BBC. One of the men was already in custody, two were arrested in Berlin, and one was picked up by Dutch police in Rotterdam. It's the first time law enforcement officials have reported a Hamas plot to attack in Europe since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7.
In Denmark, officials announced three separate arrests in a terror plot, a threat the prime minister called "as serious as it gets." Unlike German prosecutors, Danish officials did not say whether the suspects had any ties to Hamas, though Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office posted on X that all seven suspects were "acting on behalf of Hamas." A Danish intelligence official told CNN that there was no link to the case in Germany. But Denmark's justice minister said the plot uncovered there "tragically confirms that Danish Jews are under threat," per the BBC. Security officials in Europe already were on high alert, but some said patrols will be increased now at Jewish institutions.
Rather than launch attacks in Europe, Hamas has been using it as a logistical base and a place to raise money. German officials said at least one of the men just arrested was looking for a cache of weapons Hamas had previously placed. Once located, the weapons were supposed to be brought to Berlin in preparation for an attack on Jewish places in Europe, a prosecutor said. In announcing the arrests, Germany's interior minister said, "We use all constitutional means against those who threaten the lives of Jews and the existence of the state of Israel," per CNN. (More Israel-Hamas war stories.)
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