Germany: Hamas planned European attack; pre-recorded claim video discovered

The discovery

German federal prosecutor Jens Rommel revealed at an annual press conference in Karlsruhe on Monday that investigators had uncovered a concrete Hamas plot to carry out an attack in Europe. During the investigation into weapons procurement for the Islamist group, a pre-recorded claim of responsibility video was seized from one suspect.

“From one of the suspects, a pre-recorded video was seized in which the group claimed responsibility for the attack.”

The plot and the anniversary

The video announced an attack timed for the second anniversary of the Hamas assault on Israel on 7 October 2023, i.e., around 7 October 2025. The first three suspects were arrested in Berlin on 1 October 2025, just days before the planned date.

Arrests and European reach

Since autumn 2025, the Federal Prosecutor's Office has arrested a total of nine suspected Hamas supporters. They are accused of involvement in transporting and storing weapons and ammunition for the organization beginning in summer 2025. In subsequent months, six further men were taken into custody in Germany and other European countries, most recently in Denmark at the end of May 2026. Earlier arrests occurred in the United Kingdom and Cyprus. One of the accused is alleged to have stored weapons in Vienna. Investigators believe the weapons were intended for attacks on Israeli or Jewish institutions in Germany and across Europe.

Context and prior convictions

In late March, a Berlin court convicted four members of an underground Hamas cell to multi-year prison sentences after a year-long trial. The men were found to have searched for weapons depots in Germany, Poland, Denmark, and Bulgaria as foreign operatives of the group. That ruling was the first time a higher regional court in Germany determined that Hamas constitutes a foreign terrorist organization under German criminal law. Rommel, who has led the Karlsruhe-based Federal Prosecutor's Office since March 2024, noted that the current case represents a separate, more advanced threat with a specific attack timeline.