A former bodyguard to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh allegedly secured asylum and British citizenship before being accused of helping plan a terror attack targeting Jewish people in Europe.
The man, referred to as Mr X because of legal restrictions, was reportedly granted refugee status in the UK in 2015. At the time, he was alleged to have previously served on the personal protection team of Haniyeh, who then led Hamas in Gaza.
He was also reportedly arrested in Egypt over claims that he supervised a tunnel used to move weapons and gold into Gaza.
Mr X, a married man in his forties and the father of children, is now facing extradition to Germany. Prosecutors accuse him of helping organise a planned attack in October 2025 against Israeli diplomats, pro-Israel rallies and Jewish communities in Germany or Austria.
Investigators believe the alleged attacks were timed to fall close to the second anniversary of the October 7 attacks, which killed about 1,200 people.
He is also due to stand trial in Britain in an unrelated criminal case. Should he be found guilty, he would serve a prison sentence in the UK before being sent to Germany to face accusations of obtaining weapons for Hamas.
National Crime Agency officers arrested the alleged former Hamas bodyguard in central London last November after intelligence about the suspected plot was passed to Mossad and German intelligence and security agencies.
German authorities coordinated with international partners, including the UK, in an operation that led to the detention of seven suspects and the seizure of weapons, among them an AK-47 rifle.
Hamas fighters pictured in Gaza. The former bodyguard of a Hamas leader allegedly obtained UK asylum and citizenship before becoming involved in a suspected terror plot targeting Jewish people in Europe
An indictment obtained first by German newspaper Bild says Mr X, who remains in custody in Britain, is accused of delivering weapons to a storage unit in Vienna.
The indictment further alleges that he recorded a video of himself standing before a Hamas flag while masked and carrying a weapon. In the footage, he reportedly described the proposed attack as retaliation on behalf of the Ezzidine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing.
Prosecutors claim that in July last year he transported five handguns, ammunition, woollen hats, neck warmers and gloves from Berlin before placing them in a rented storage facility in Vienna.
A law enforcement source described Mr X as an “essential” participant in the alleged operation, according to The Sunday Times.
Despite claims that the alleged plot ranked among Germany’s most serious recent terror threats, Mr X cannot currently be identified. His lawyer argued that naming him could affect the outcome of the separate UK criminal proceedings.
Sources say Mr X joined Haniyeh’s security detail around the time Hamas secured a decisive victory in Palestine’s legislative elections.
Haniyeh went on to lead Gaza for the following decade after Hamas defeated its rival Fatah in a civil conflict and took control of the territory.
Egyptian authorities are believed to have detained Mr X sometime between 2009 and 2012 over allegations that he ran a tunnel used to smuggle guns.
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He left Gaza in 2012 and reached Britain by 2015, where he reportedly joined other senior Hamas figures and members of the group’s predecessor, the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Home Office, under then-Home Secretary Theresa May, granted asylum to the alleged former Hamas security operative. It remains unclear how much officials knew about his suspected involvement in the group’s internal operations.
He was later granted British citizenship and settled with his wife and children in a suburban home near an English city.
The father has used two properties in the same English city in recent years but does not own either of them.
Mr X changed his name at least once, according to sources, with Companies House records showing UK entities incorporated under several identities.
He left positive reviews for local businesses under a Google Maps account as recently as two years ago – all while attending protests outside the Israeli embassy.
Online pictures show him standing alongside Haniyeh, including one where he escorts the Hamas leader in Gaza through a throng of supporters holding Kalashnikovs.
Haniyeh was assassinated by Mossad in Tehran in July 2024, just months after the October 7 attacks.
As a vocal spokesperson and intermediary for Hamas on the world stage, Haniyeh had described the October 7 attacks as ‘an earthquake that struck the heart of the Zionist entity’ and vowed to continue the fight to ‘liberate… all our land’.
But for years, the ‘overall leader’ of Hamas had lived a life of luxury outside of Gaza, drawing the ire of many Gazans who felt he had become ‘out of touch’ after rising to the top of Hamas’ political structure in its early years in power.
As he decried poverty in the beleaguered Gaza Strip, Haniyeh became the wealthiest of Hamas’ leaders, jetting between five-star hotels in Doha and Istanbul while Hamas siphoned millions in international aid for military use.
Mr X, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was allegedly awarded refugee status despite working in the security detail of Ismail Haniyeh, then Hamas leader in Gaza, pictured in 2021
Police found Mr X’s pre-recorded video while raiding a property and it is believed the clip was filmed in Vienna.
Seven others were last year arrested over the alleged planned attack including two German citizens, one Dane, one Bulgarian and three Lebanese suspects.
A German intelligence asset, who allegedly went rogue, is alleged to have been a co-conspirator of the plotted terror attack.
The Daily Mail has approached the Home Office for comment.
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