Hamas Allegedly Built Weapons Depots Across Europe, Planned Terror Attacks Ahead of Oct. 7 Anniversary

Germany’s federal prosecutor has indicted seven people accused of acquiring weapons for Hamas in preparation for terrorist attacks timed around the second anniversary of the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel.

The case has brought renewed attention to the threat posed by Hamas networks operating in Europe, including the potential danger to Israeli, American and European institutions and civilians.

According to the prosecutor’s office, all seven defendants are members of Hamas’s foreign terrorist organization. Prosecutors said the group’s military arm, the Qassam Brigades, had begun setting up weapons caches in Europe and, by July 2025 at the latest, was planning a specific assassination in Germany or Austria targeting Israeli representatives, Jews or people viewed as supportive of Israel. The suspects were arrested between October 2025 and May 2026.

Prosecutors said the planned attack was intended to occur near the second anniversary of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, assault on Israel—meaning in early October 2025.

The indictment identified the defendants by first name and the initial of their surname: German citizen Abed Al G.; Danish citizen Yousif C.; Lebanon-born Borhan El-K.; Lebanon-born Wael F.M.; German citizen Ahmad I.; Lebanon-born Kamel M.; and Bulgarian citizen Mohammad S.

German privacy laws generally prevent authorities from publishing the full surnames of criminal suspects.

German prosecutors said the suspects had obtained a working fully automatic rifle, 13 operational pistols and more than 700 rounds of ammunition. They added that Mohammed A., who is facing separate proceedings, moved some of the weapons to Vienna and placed them in storage.

The German newspaper Die Welt reported that one defendant had worked as a confidential source for Germany’s domestic intelligence service. The newspaper said case files indicated the informant continued communicating with his handler while allegedly withholding the full scope of his role in securing ammunition for the network.

Sascha Adamek, a German journalist and author of the 2026 book “Infiltration: Political Islam Continues Its Advance,” told News Media that the arrests exposed the consequences of earlier German policies. He argued that, until 2023, successive federal governments allowed Hamas and affiliated front organizations to use Germany for fundraising, recruitment and the radicalization of young people. The assumption that Hamas would refrain from violence in Germany in exchange for being allowed to operate, he said, is no longer viable.

Germany’s latest federal domestic intelligence report estimated that Hamas may have had up to 650 operatives in the country in 2025, the most recent year covered. That compares with 550 in 2024 and 450 in 2023. Officials cautioned that the totals are partly estimated and rounded. The report also listed 1,250 Hezbollah operatives in Germany.

Asked why Hamas and Hezbollah members and operatives continue to conduct activities in Germany, the German Interior Ministry’s press office told News Media that Hamas has been prohibited from operating in the country since 2023. However, the ministry said the group still maintains a support network whose members have generally avoided public activity and visible signs of affiliation.

The ministry said Hezbollah is also banned in Germany but does not operate through a single nationwide or regional umbrella organization. Instead, its supporters are dispersed among various associations. Those groups, which authorities classify as Hezbollah-linked, primarily engage in religious and cultural activities and educational programs for children, young people and adults promoting conservative Islam and Shi’ite identity. In some cases, the ministry said, supporters have provided specific assistance to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Responding to criticism that Germany has been too lenient in dismantling Hamas and Hezbollah structures, the Interior Ministry pointed to its legal actions. It said Hamas’s activities were banned on Nov. 2, 2023, because they violate German criminal law, undermine international understanding and significantly harm Germany’s interests. Hezbollah’s activities had previously been prohibited on April 30, 2020, for similar reasons, the ministry said.

The ministry added that federal and state security agencies routinely investigate indications of extremist activity and criminal offenses while reviewing all countermeasures permitted under German law.

It also said Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and Israel’s subsequent military operation in the Gaza Strip continue to influence the security environment in Germany and across Europe. Alongside the elevated underlying threat, officials cited sustained pro-Palestinian demonstrations and intensified activity on social media. The ministry warned that extremist actors in Germany are promoting hatred or violence against Jews and Israel and, in some cases, denying Israel’s right to exist.

The presence of indicted Lebanese men highlights the alliance between the two U.S-designated terrorist organizations, Hamas and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah.

The Iranian regime-backed Hezbollah joined Hamas a day after the Gaza-based terrorist movement invaded Israel in 2023 and slaughtered over 1,200 people.

Germany’s Die Welt reported, “The prosecutors alleged the weapons operation was also coordinated from Lebanon, where a Hamas operative allegedly oversaw one of the procurement channels linking members of the network across Europe.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry seized on the report about the planned Hamas terror attacks in Germany and Austria, posting on X: “Palestinian Hamas was planning terror on the streets of Europe. German prosecutors say Hamas plotted attacks in Berlin and Vienna targeting Jewish communities and Israeli diplomats – part of a network allegedly using Turkey as a base for terror operations against European targets. The goal: mark October 7 with more blood.”

Matthew Levitt, a leading scholar on Hezbollah and Hamas in Europe from the Washington Institute, told News Media, “I wrote the only long form, detailed expose on this a while back now in CTC Sentinel [Combating Terrorism Center}, based on court documents and extensive interviews.” He added, “Hamas continues plotting in Europe, overseen by senior Qassam Brigades officials in Lebanon and with direct ties to senior Hamas leadership. One of the people arrested in Europe is the son of a senior Hamas leader, Basem Naim.”

Levitt published his article titled “Hamas Plots in Europe: A Shift Toward External Operations?” in the October 2025 issue of the West Point journal CTC.

Levitt cited a 2024 German prosecution indictment of alleged Hezbollah terrorists planning possible attacks against an American military base and Israel’s embassy. Levitt wrote, “The weapons, German officials concluded, ‘were intended to expand Hamas’ activities in Europe.‘ As the investigation progressed, German authorities determined — based on materials found on one of the defendants’ USB storage devices — that the Hamas operatives were considering specific targets in Germany, including the Israeli embassy in Berlin, the U.S. Ramstein Air Base in Rhineland-Palatinate and the area around Berlin’s Tempelhof airport.”

Israel’s ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor, warned that Hamas remains a serious security threat. He told the German media outlet Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND), “Germany has gone from being a retreat for Hamas to an active terrorist target.” He stressed Hamas’ ideology and terrorism affects “all of us” and a coordinated response is required.