Trial opens in Germany for 4 alleged Hamas members accused of stashing weapons across Europe

By AP and ToI Staff 25 February 2025, 3:18 pm

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Policemen stand in front of a house in Berlin's Friedrichshain district, as a raid was under way against Hamas and Samidoun, both of which are banned in the country, November 23, 2023. (Odd ANDERSEN/AFP)

A trial begins today in Germany for four alleged Hamas members suspected of organizing weapons caches across Europe.

They are accused of seeking out and setting up weapons depots for the terror group across Europe so terrorists could later use the firearms and ammunition for attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets on the continent, prosecutors said when filing charges last year.

The weapons were allegedly moved around Europe in preparation for Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack against Israel, prosecutors said.

Hamas also considered targeting the Israeli Embassy in Berlin, the area around Tempelhof Airport in the capital and the US Ramstein Air Base in Germany, authorities said.

Abdelhamid Al A., Mohamed B., Nazih R. and Ibrahim El-R. were arrested in December 2023. Prosecutors identified them only by their first name and last initial in line with German privacy laws.

All four had important positions within Hamas, prosecutors asserted.

The men allegedly set up a weapons cache in Bulgaria in 2019 and in Denmark later that year. They sought to find a spot in Poland but were unsuccessful, prosecutors said.