Hamas allegedly built weapons depots across Europe, planned terror attacks as Oct 7 anniversary neared
BERLIN — German federal prosecutors have unsealed an indictment charging seven men with procuring a significant arsenal for Hamas, alleging the network planned to strike Israeli and Jewish targets in Germany and Austria to coincide with the second anniversary of the October 7, 2023, attacks.
The announcement by the Federal Prosecutor General’s office in Karlsruhe pulls back the curtain on what authorities describe as a concrete, advanced plot orchestrated by the terror group’s military wing, the Qassam Brigades, marking a stark escalation in Hamas’s operational footprint on European soil.
According to the indictment, the suspects — identified only by first names and initials under German privacy laws — were arrested in a rolling operation between October 2025 and May 2026. The group comprises three German nationals, two men born in Lebanon, a Danish citizen, and a Bulgarian national. Prosecutors allege all seven are members of Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the European Union and banned from operating in Germany since November 2023.
Investigators say the cell had successfully acquired a fully automatic rifle, 13 pistols, and more than 700 rounds of ammunition. Some of the weaponry was transported to Vienna and stored there by an additional suspect, Mohammed A., who is being prosecuted separately. The prosecutors’ statement alleges that by no later than July 2025, Hamas leadership had greenlit a "concrete assassination" operation in Germany or Austria targeting Israeli representatives, Jewish individuals, or perceived pro-Israel advocates. The violence was intended for early October 2025, timed to the anniversary of the Gaza border infiltration.
"The attack was to take place in close temporal proximity to the second anniversary of Hamas’s assault on Israel on 7 October 2023," the prosecutor’s office stated.
The indictment paints a picture of a transnational supply chain. Prosecutors allege the weapons procurement was coordinated from Lebanon, where a Hamas operative oversaw a channel linking network members across Europe. Israeli officials have pointed to Turkey as a logistical base for the network. Israel’s Foreign Ministry characterized the foiled plot as evidence that "Palestinian Hamas was planning terror on the streets of Europe," with the goal to "mark October 7 with more blood."
The case has reignited a fierce debate in Berlin regarding the historical handling of Islamist networks. For years, critics argue, German authorities tolerated Hamas-associated charities and associations under an implicit understanding that the group would refrain from violence on German soil — a "dirty deal," in the words of Sascha Adamek, a journalist and author of Infiltration: Political Islam Continues Its Advance.
"Now the policy of previous federal governments is coming back to haunt them," Adamek said. "Until 2023 they allowed Hamas and its front organizations to use Germany as a ‘safe haven’ for fundraising and recruitment and also for the radicalization of young people. This dirty deal — that Hamas does not use violence in this country and is therefore left to operate freely — has long been obsolete."
Domestic intelligence estimates underscore the scale of the challenge. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) estimated in its 2025 report that roughly 650 Hamas operatives were active in Germany during that year, up from 450 in 2023. The same report places the number of Hezbollah operatives at approximately 1,250. Both groups are banned in Germany; Hezbollah has been prohibited since April 2020.
The Interior Ministry, defending its record, noted that Hamas supporters had historically "tended to act with restraint in public and avoid any outward signs of connection to the organization." Regarding Hezbollah, the ministry described its supporters as spread across various associations focused on "religious and cultural spheres," while acknowledging isolated cases of concrete support for the group in Lebanon. The ministry emphasized that security authorities "consistently investigate leads regarding possible extremist activities... and continuously examine all countermeasures available under the rule of law."
Complicating the narrative is the revelation, first reported by Die Welt, that one of the indicted men worked as a confidential informant for the BfV. According to the report, the informant continued reporting to his handler while allegedly withholding the full extent of his involvement in acquiring ammunition for the cell. The BfV has not publicly commented on the specific case, citing source protection laws.
The indictment also illuminates the operational convergence between Hamas and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah, both backed by Iran. Several of the accused are Lebanese nationals, a detail analysts say reflects the deepening alliance between the two groups following Hezbollah’s entry into the conflict on October 8, 2023.
Matthew Levitt, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and author of a 2025 CTC Sentinel study on Hamas external operations, said the German case fits a broader pattern. He noted that Hamas plotting in Europe is overseen by senior Qassam Brigades officials in Lebanon with direct ties to the group’s top leadership. Levitt’s research, based on court documents, previously identified specific potential targets considered by Hamas operatives in Germany, including the Israeli Embassy in Berlin, the U.S. Ramstein Air Base, and the vicinity of Berlin’s Tempelhof Airport. He also noted that one individual arrested in the broader European sweep is the son of Basem Naim, a senior Hamas political leader.
Israel’s Ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor, warned that the threat has fundamentally shifted. "Germany has gone from being a retreat for Hamas to an active terrorist target," Prosor told Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland. He stressed that Hamas’s ideology and terrorism affect "all of us" and demanded a coordinated European response.
As the legal proceedings against the seven men move toward trial, the case stands as the most significant public evidence to date that the October 7 attacks were not merely a localized flare-up, but the catalyst for a deliberate, organized campaign to export violence to the heart of Europe.