Four men jailed in Berlin for storing weapons for Hamas-linked attacks
Four men were sentenced in Berlin for storing weapons for Hamas, aiming to attack Jewish and Israeli targets across Europe.
Germany’s Interior Ministry condemned the activities of the jailed men, reaffirming commitment to counter-terrorism measures against threats linked to foreign terrorist organisations.
All four convicted men, aged 36 to 58, are serving sentences between four and six years for their roles in a Hamas-linked weapons network in Europe.
Briefing summary
Four men were sentenced to prison in Berlin for storing weapons linked to Hamas, convicted of membership in a foreign terrorist organisation. Sentences ranged from four to six years.
The court revealed the group prepared for potential attacks on Jewish and Israeli targets across Europe, with weapons hidden in multiple depots. The men were arrested in December 2023.
Prosecutors indicated the weapons were intended for strikes against locations including the Israeli embassy in Berlin. Ibrahim El R. received the longest sentence for possessing illegal weapons.
Germany jails four men over Hamas-linked weapons caches for potential attacks
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Four men were jailed in Berlin on Wednesday for being part of a network that stored weapons for potential attacks in Europe under the direction of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
A court convicted the men, aged between 36 and 58, of membership of a foreign terrorist organisation jailing them for between four and six years.
All four had helped build weapons depots as part of “preparations to carry out attacks on Jewish and Israeli targets in European countries,” presiding judge Doris Husch said.
They were partially identified as Abdelhamid Al A. and Ibrahim El R., both born in Lebanon; Egyptian national Mohammed B; and Dutch national Nazih R.
The men were arrested in December 2023, weeks after the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
Nazih R. was detained in Rotterdam and the other three in Berlin.
At the start of the trial in February 2025, prosecutors accused them of “establishing, maintaining and dismantling underground hideouts” where weapons were kept.
Ibrahim El R., who ran a restaurant in Berlin, travelled to Bulgaria in 2019 to bury a chest full of weapons there, they said.
He also brought a gun into Germany from another weapons depot in Denmark in 2019.
Ibrahim El R., 43, was convicted of possessing illegal weapons and of membership of a foreign terrorist organisation. He received the longest sentence of six years.
The men also tried to pick up weapons from a location in Poland, prosecutors said, but failed to locate them despite several attempts.
The arms were to be used in attacks against locations such as the Israeli embassy in Berlin and the US military base at Ramstein in western Germany, prosecutors said.
Additional sources • AFP
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