Suspicion of terrorism in Germany: Suspected Hamas weapons cache uncovered

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In December, police officers brought two Hamas suspects to the investigating judge in Karlsruhe

Photo: Einsatz-Report24 / IMAGO

During the investigation against four suspected Hamas members, investigators made an explosive discovery. According to SPIEGEL information, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) discovered photos of several pistols, magazines and other weapon parts on the cell phone of one of the men arrested in mid-December.

Digital traces in the photos led investigators to a location in southern Bulgaria where the firearms had apparently been buried in a plastic bag under a tree. The Bulgarian police have now been able to confiscate the weapons. Some of them are said to have been rusty.

Shortly before Christmas, police arrested three men in Berlin and one man in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The Federal Prosecutor General suspects them of being members of Hamas.

The men are said to have received an order from the terrorist organization's military wing in Lebanon to locate an underground depot in Europe. The Karlsruhe investigators believe they were supposed to bring the weapons hidden there to Berlin - to keep them ready for possible attacks on Jewish institutions.

Mastermind in Lebanon

Investigators initially suspected the weapons were hidden in Poland. Several of the suspects are said to have traveled there repeatedly. However, it is still unclear whether there actually is or was a depot in Poland. No firearms were recovered from the suspects themselves during the arrests in December. However, the discovery in Bulgaria now indicates that the terrorist organization actually has weapons caches in Europe.

The German security authorities found out about the suspected terrorist plans through a tip from the Israeli secret service. In January, the authorities there themselves made public details of the alleged Hamas network, which is said to have prepared attacks on Jews in Europe. The mastermind is said to have been Khalil Al Kharraz, who was deputy commander of Hamas's military wing in Lebanon until his death. He died a few months ago in a drone strike by the Israeli Defense Forces.

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