Germany stops suspect members of Hamas for an alleged attack plot

According to prosecutors, three alleged members of the Palestinian armed group were arrested for having allegedly planned attacks on Israeli and Jewish institutions in Germany, according to prosecutors.

The three men – two of whom are German citizens and one of whom was born in Lebanese – are suspected of having bought firearms and ammunition since the summer to be used in the attacks, said the office of the German federal prosecutor.

The men, named Abed Al G, Wael FM and Ahmad I, were arrested on Tuesday in Berlin, added the office. Their arrests came one day before Yom Kippur, the most holy day of the Jewish calendar.

Hamas – which controls Gaza and is considered a terrorist organization by the EU – denied any link with men.

The federal prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Wednesday that, during arrests, “various weapons, including an AK 47 assault rifle and several pistols, and a large amount of ammunition, were found”.

He added: “Weapons were intended to be used by Hamas in assassination attacks against Israeli or Jewish institutions in Germany.”

Prosecutors in Germany generally only refer to suspects by their first name and an initial.

German media report Men were arrested when they met for a transfer of arms to the capital.

According to the newspaper Der Spiegel, police research also took place in the cities of Leipzig and Oberhausen at the time of the Berlin arrests.

The three were accused of preparing an act of serious violence endangering the German state and membership of a foreign terrorist organization.

The suspects will appear before a federal judge on Thursday, said the federal prosecutor.

Hamas said in a statement that the allegations against it were “baseless” and aimed to “undermine the sympathy of the German people for the Palestinian people”.

The group added that it had a policy of limiting its activities to what it considers that the Palestinian territory.

The arrests come after four members of Hamas tried in Berlin in February, accused of having plotted attacks on Jewish sites in Europe.