NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 19:42
The Rotterdam man who was arrested yesterday for allegedly being involved in attack plans by the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas will remain in jail for the time being. Germany has requested his extradition, but a Dutch judge must first decide on this request.
In addition to 56-year-old Nazih R., three men were also arrested in Germany. The arrests are striking because for the first time in decades there are indications of Hamas’s attack plans in Europe.
EP{ADe suspects arrested in Germany were brought before a court in Karlsruhe today
R. is said to have come into the police’s sights after a tip from the Israeli secret service Mossad. The Rotterdam resident has been active for foundations that raise money for aid to Gaza for at least twenty years. He also attended pro-Palestine conferences abroad.
Geheim wapendepot
According to German justice, he, together with the three Berlin co-suspects, has been involved with Hamas for years. Since October, he is said to have regularly searched for weapons in a secret underground weapons depot, probably somewhere in Poland.
That weapons depot is said to have been created at the beginning of this year, to be used for attacks on Jewish institutions in Europe. Both the Palestinian men and the police failed to find the weapons depot, German media report.
All four suspects have Palestinian roots. They are said to have been directed by Hamas leaders in Lebanon, who reportedly asked the men to look for the weapons this spring. According to German media, no concrete attack plan has been found. Nazih R.’s provisional lawyer in the Netherlands does not want to respond to the suspicions.
Surprised
Peter Malcontent, lecturer at Utrecht University and expert on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, is surprised that suspected Hamas supporters have been arrested on suspicion of preparing attacks in Europe.
“Until now, Hamas has not been interested in that,” he says. “Their actions have always been aimed at Israel, not at Europe or the United States.” The last Hamas attack in Europe was on Malta in 1988.
According to Malcontent, opponents of Hamas place the organization on a par with IS and al-Qaeda, but there is an important difference. “The last two are aimed at a world caliphate. Hamas also wants its own Islamic state, but in Palestine.”
Cat in a corner
Although he does not consider attacks in Europe logical, he believes it cannot be ruled out that Hamas is now also targeting Jewish targets abroad. “Hamas is currently in a corner. It is possible that factions within the organization have turned a new leaf and want to stir things up in Europe.”
If violence threatens here too, European countries could have a greater interest in ending the conflict in Gaza, the university lecturer says. “Although attacks in Europe could also work against Hamas.”
ANPE A Marechaussee car at a Jewish school in Amsterdam (photo from October 2023)
According to Malcontent, it is difficult to estimate whether Hamas is really prepared to commit violence outside the Middle East, also because the organization is not centrally managed. “Hamas has a political branch, a military branch, an official leadership in Qatar and you have the people in Gaza. It is also conceivable that the suspects now arrested consider themselves Hamas members.”
Street gang
Three people were arrested in the early morning yesterday, not only in the Netherlands and Germany, but also in Denmark. Four others are still wanted. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office said yesterday that the Danish suspects were also acting “on behalf of Hamas”. The Danish investigation is also said to have started with a tip from the Mossad.
According to the Rotterdam police, both cases are connected, although the authorities in Germany and Denmark do not report this. Unlike in Germany, the Danes suspect that there were already concrete plans to commit an attack. Among the wanted suspects are two members of the illegal street gang Loyal To Familia. The gang consists mainly of Danes with a migration background and is known for arms and drug trafficking.
One of the suspects is a leader of Loyal To Familia, who was previously convicted for his involvement in a double murder and has since been on the run. Terrorism experts have been warning for some time about a possible alliance between criminal groups and terrorists.
Money raised
A lawsuit is currently underway in Rotterdam against another man, who is said to have raised more than 6 million euros through a foundation in the Netherlands and transferred it to Hamas. The now arrested Nazih R. was involved as a director of this foundation until 2009.
Middle East specialist Malcontent is not sure whether Hamas is actually trying to raise money in this way in Europe. “But wherever they can get money, I’m sure they’ll try.”
2023-12-15 18:42:28
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