After Israel, could European countries become Hamas’ new targets? Several recent incidents on the continent, as noted The Expressreveal worrying preparations by a network linked to the Palestinian Islamist group: discovery of a cache of weapons in Austria, arrest of several suspects in Germany and the United Kingdom, as well as that, in the Netherlands, of a Palestinian presenting himself as a journalist but suspected of financing the terrorist movement…
On November 3, a British citizen of Palestinian origin, suspected of having stored weapons in Vienna, was arrested in London at the request of the German anti-terrorist prosecution. He would be one of the sons of Bassem Naim, a senior Hamas executive in exile in Qatar, who narrowly escaped an Israeli bombing on September 9 in Doha.
European Jewish institutions targeted
Three days later, the Austrian Internal Security Service announced the seizure of five firearms and ten magazines from a rented warehouse in Vienna. According to a spokesperson, this arsenal, amassed by “Hamas operational structures abroad”was intended to “preparing possible terrorist attacks in Europe, in particular against Jewish or Israeli institutions”.
In Germany, three men linked to Hamas had already been arrested on October 1, the eve of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. They were in possession of an AK-47 assault rifle, several handguns and a significant quantity of ammunition. German Interior Minister Says Trio Was Planning Anti-Jewish Attacks “probably in the Berlin area “.
On November 11, an Amsterdam court approved the extradition to Austria of Mustafa Ayyash, a Palestinian from Gaza, suspected of being one of Hamas’ main financiers in Europe. Presented as a Palestinian journalist, Ayyash runs the NGO Gaza Now, which raises funds via social networks for humanitarian projects in Gaza. According to the Austrian authorities, this activity actually serves as a cover to finance Hamas.
If the terrorist movement has been greatly weakened in the Gaza Strip, it could seek to mobilize its network to carry out attacks abroad, targeting Jewish communities in particular, in order to show that it retains its power to cause harm. A report published last month by the counterterrorism center at the US Military Academy at West Point, however, highlights that this renewed international activism could be more of a temporary phenomenon, linked to the conflict in Gaza, than a real strategic reorientation.
