Terror suspects arrested in Europe had images of Jewish, Israeli targets — report
Afghan, Syrian refugees detained on suspicion of terror activities in December in Bosnia and Austria thought to be ‘motivated by Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza’
A number of terror suspects arrested in December in Bosnia and Austria had images of Jewish and Israeli targets on their cellphones, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday, citing investigators who said the photos “suggested they were motivated by Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.”
According to the report, the suspects were among individuals in two separate groups of refugees from Afghanistan and Syria who were detained on suspicion of terror activities.
The suspects were in possession of arms and ammunition including Kalashnikovs and pistols, the newspaper added.
The report came as Italian police announced that they had arrested three Palestinians based in central Italy who they said were planning attacks in an unspecified country, with Israel requesting the extradition of one of them.
The Italian police statement on Monday said that the three men had set up a cell linked to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed offshoot of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s secular nationalist Fatah party. The group is considered a terrorist group by Israel, the European Union, and the United States.
Investigators quoted in the Wall Street Journal report said these separate incidents suggest that the terror threat in Europe is “not only growing but also coming from new sources,” specifically pointing to “Iran and its proxies in the Middle East, including Hezbollah and Hamas.”
In January, Israeli intelligence agencies released details on a network of Hamas operatives in Europe commanded by terror leaders in Lebanon, with the aim of attacking Israeli and Jewish targets in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
The Mossad and Shin Bet agencies did not provide many further details on these findings, but said the network had been planning to attack Israel’s embassy in Sweden, buy UAVs, and utilize criminal organizations in Europe to support attacks.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after the terror group’s devastating October 7 attack in which terrorists killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 253 others, over half of whom remain in Gaza.
