Hamas is operating in Europe and authorities must take action

The recent law enforcement operation that led to the arrest of Muhammad Naim, a UK resident who is the son of Bassem Naim, a Hamas political bureau leader and spokesman, highlights the danger posed by Hamas on European soil, thus demolishing the theory that has been in vogue for too long in European intelligence and security circles, according to which “Hamas does not have the objective of striking in Europe.”

The operation, carried out by the European intelligence agencies in collaboration with the Mossad, led to the arrest of terror suspects and weapons stockpiles intended for use by Hamas cells to attack Jewish and Israeli targets in the Old Continent.

The German arrest warrant indicates Muhammad Naim as “a member of the terrorist organization Hamas” and states that “in the summer of 2025, he met twice with Abed Al G., who is being investigated separately in Berlin. On these occasions, Naim took over five handguns and ammunition from Abed Al G. He then transported the weapons to Austria and stored them in Vienna. These actions served to prepare terrorist attacks on Israeli or Jewish facilities in Germany.”

In September 2025, Muhammad Naim met with his father in Doha, Qatar, indicating a possible involvement of the Hamas leadership in the advancement of terrorist activities in Europe. In October 2025, three other individuals linked to M. Naim, including a dangerous operative who arrived in Germany from Lebanon in the summer of 2025, were arrested. The cell was found in possession of different weapons, including AK-47s, handguns and, ammunition.

However, this is not the first Hamas cell caught storing weapons in Europe. On December 14, 2023, German law enforcement arrested three Lebanese-born Hamas members, two of them living in Berlin and one with residence in Catania, Italy. A fourth suspect, a Dutch-Lebanese also linked to the Berlin cell, was arrested in the Netherlands and extradited to Germany in February 2024.

This specific cell was active in hiding caches of weapons in different European countries, such as Poland, Bulgaria, and Denmark, under the supervision of Hamas’s deputy chief in Lebanon, Khalil Hamed al-Kharaz, who was killed in November 2023 by an Israeli raid in Lebanon.

As explained in a detailed report published by the Meir Amit Center in October 2025, this cell had been active on European soil at least since 2019. In the summer of 2023, just a few months before the October 7^th massacre, al-Kharaz had instructed the cell to check the weapon caches in Poland and Bulgaria. The report also highlights that the four individuals were known to European authorities as Hamas operatives and defined as “movement fundraisers”.

It is also worth noting that in 2016 a British citizen, after being arrested by Israeli authorities in Tel Aviv, revealed that al-Kharaz had an extensive network of men operatives in Europe, some of whom had European passports.

Although Hamas has been classified as a terrorist organization by the European Union since 2003 (the Izzedin al-Qassam Brigades since 2001), the Hamas network has been able to operate undisturbed until today, both in terms of fundraising and operational activities.

As already highlighted, the members of the cell arrested in December 2023 were already known to the competent authorities and designated as “fundraisers,” while simultaneously managing the weapons caches. Are there similar situations in other European countries not yet involved in the investigation?

It is useful to remember that, in October 2024, the US Treasury Department sanctioned three individuals active in Germany, Austria, and Italy, respectively, Majed al-Zeer, Adel Doughman, and Mohammad Hannoun, indicating them as members of Hamas and fundraisers. Al-Zeer fled Germany in 2024 and relocated to Turkey, while the other two are still active in Italy and Austria.

Finally, it appears that Lebanon has become Hamas’s command center for operations in Europe. Indeed, it is from there that the cells were supervised, and numerous individuals with Lebanese citizenship are involved in the investigations. As explained by Matthew Levitt in a report for CTC Sentinel published in October 2025: “Israeli authorities were well aware of Hamas’ operational activities in Lebanon well before the October 7 attacks and quickly focused their attention on the Hamas leadership in Lebanon”. In such regard, Levitt points out how, in January 2024, the IDF eliminated Salah al-Arouri, Hamas leader in Lebanon and its liaison man with Iran. Moreover, the expert also explains how the weapons caches across Europe are linked to the Hamas leadership in Lebanon.

Overall, it’s very clear that Hamas is widely present and active both in raising funds and preparing attacks in Europe, and it’s time for European authorities to coordinate efforts to crack down on the European network in all countries where it operates. No one will be able to say anymore, “Hamas has no interest in attacking Europe.”