German federal prosecutors have indicted seven people accused of belonging to Hamas and helping the group build weapons depots in Europe, part of what authorities describe as a plot to carry out a terrorist attack around the second anniversary of the October 7, 2023, assault on Israel.
The federal prosecutor's office said the suspects were members of the foreign terrorist organization Hamas, and that the group's military wing, the Qassam Brigades, had begun establishing weapons caches in Europe. According to the indictment, Hamas planned a concrete assassination in Germany or Austria targeting representatives of Israel, people of Jewish faith, or individuals with pro-Israel views. The attack was to take place in close proximity to the second anniversary of the October 7 assault, in early October 2025.
The seven suspects were arrested between October 2025 and May 2026. Prosecutors identified them by first names and partial last names: German national Abed Al G., Danish national Yousif C., Lebanon-born Borhan El-K., Lebanon-born Wael F.M., German national Ahmad I., Lebanon-born Kamel M., and Bulgarian national Mohammad S. German law withholds full last names of criminal suspects for privacy reasons.
Authorities said the suspects had already obtained a functional fully automatic rifle, 13 functional pistols and more than 700 rounds of ammunition. A separate suspect, Mohammed A., is accused of transporting some of the weapons to Vienna and storing them there.
The case has drawn attention to the reach of Hamas's network in Europe. According to the German newspaper Die Welt, one of the accused was working as a confidential informant for Germany's domestic intelligence agency. The files show the informant continued reporting to his intelligence handler while allegedly failing to disclose the full extent of his own involvement in obtaining ammunition for the group.
Sascha Adamek, a German journalist and author of the 2026 book «Infiltration: Political Islam Continues Its Advance», told Fox News Digital that previous federal governments' policies are now coming back to haunt them. Until 2023, he said, authorities allowed Hamas and its front organizations to use Germany as a «safe haven» for fundraising, recruitment and the radicalization of young people. He described a «dirty deal» under which Hamas would not use violence in the country and was therefore left to operate freely, adding that this arrangement has long been obsolete.
Germany's most recent domestic intelligence report estimated that Hamas could have had as many as 650 operatives in the country during 2025, the last year of tracking. That figure was up from 550 in 2024 and 450 in 2023. Intelligence officials noted the numbers refer to Germany and are partly estimated and rounded. The same report counted 1,250 Hezbollah operatives active in Germany.
Asked why Germany permits Hamas and Hezbollah members to operate within its territory, the press office of the German Federal Ministry of the Interior said Hamas, banned in Germany since 2023, has a network of supporters and followers who for many years have tended to act with restraint in public and avoid outward signs of connection to the organization. Hezbollah, also banned, is not organized under a nationwide umbrella structure, the ministry said; its supporters are spread across various associations focused on religious and cultural activities, including educational programs for children, youth and adults that promote conservative Islam and a Shi'ite identity. In isolated cases, Hezbollah supporters in Germany have engaged in specific acts of support for the organization in Lebanon.
The Interior Ministry rejected suggestions that the government is lax about eradicating Hamas and Hezbollah structures. It said the Federal Ministry of the Interior banned Hamas activities on November 2, 2023, because they violate German criminal law and run counter to the principle of international understanding, and had already banned Hezbollah activities on April 30, 2020. Federal and state security authorities consistently investigate leads on possible extremist activities and acts subject to criminal prosecution, the ministry said, and continuously examine all countermeasures available under the rule of law.
The indictment has thrust the danger that Hamas's European network poses to Israeli, American and European installations and citizens back into the spotlight, as authorities in multiple countries continue to track the group's support structures.