The German Interior Ministry reported that police carried out searches at more than a dozen properties in the country due to connections to Hamas members. These operations were part of compliance with the recent ban on activities related to the terrorist group and the pro-Palestinian organization Samidoun.
In total, more than 300 police officers participated in the raids on 15 properties, 11 of them located in Berlin and the rest distributed in Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein. Seven of these records were related to Hamas, and four were linked to Samidoun.
"We continue our consistent action against radical Islamists," German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser stressed that with the new bans of Hamas and Samidoun in Germany, the message is being sent that the glorification or support of terrorism against Israel will not be tolerated.
"Islamists and antisemites must not feel safe anywhere," he added.
According to the ministry, there are around 450 Hamas members in Germany, whose activities range from support and propaganda to financing and collecting donations to strengthen the organization.
JUST IN: German authorities conducted multiple raids on suspected members of the banned Hamas and Samidoun organizations. pic.twitter.com/OvBnJqT3zo
— DW News (@dwnews) November 23, 2023
Other operations at the national level
A week ago, authorities also carried out searches of 54 other properties nationwide for their relationship with the Islamic Center of Hamburg (IZH), an organization suspected of supporting Hezbollah.
The prohibition of Hamas activities
Shortly after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, Germany decided to ban activities supporting the terrorist group as part of the fight against anti-Semitism. Likewise, the European country dissolved the pro-Palestinian organization, Smidoun, after spreading anti-Israeli propaganda and supporting several foreign terrorist organizations.
"Anti-Semitism has no place in Germany," said the minister after announcing the measure.
