German police have conducted a series of raids in four different states across the country aimed at supporters of the Hamas terrorist group along with those who may be affiliated with the Samidoun network, a Palestinian group recently banned by the German government.
According to the German Interior Ministry, a total of 16 different properties were raided on Thursday, November 23rd, in Berlin, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Schleswig-Holstein, involving several hundred police, broadcaster WDR reports.
One of the properties raided, in Berlin’s Adlershof district, is said to be the home of one of the strategic heads of the Samidoun network, a group that distributed sweets in Berlin following the October 7th terrorist attack by Hamas that saw 1,200 people in Israel murdered.
A total of eleven properties were searched in Berlin, according to a spokeswoman for the Senate Interior Administration, who said 300 police officers were involved. Seven of the searches involved people directly linked to the Hamas terror group.
Many of the searches involved the association Palestinian Community Germany (PGD), which is believed to largely comprise Hamas supporters and has called for repeated demonstrations since October 7th, with some of the events seeing explicit antisemitism and violent clashes with German police.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser commented on the raids saying,
We are continuing our consistent action against radical Islamists. With the bans on Hamas and Samidoun in Germany, we have sent a clear signal that we do not tolerate any glorification or support of Hamas’ barbaric terror against Israel.
These extremists must reckon with the full severity of the rule of law. We are keeping a close eye on the Islamist scene.
Berlin Senator Iris Spranger also spoke about the raids saying, “Today’s operation also shows that the terrorist, antisemitic and inhuman ideology of the banned organisations Hamas and Samidoun will continue to be consistently opposed,” and added, “Antisemitism and support for terror have no place in Germany.”
North Rhine-Westphalia Interior Minister Herbert Reul stated that two men in his state, a 50-year-old in Münster and a 48-year-old in Bochum, were suspected of being directly involved with Hamas.
“The aim of the searches is to clarify exactly this, to corroborate it and to collect evidence—and then, if necessary, to take further steps. This could then be, for example, further bans,” Reul said and added, “We want to turn off the money taps to people who openly speak out against international understanding and common, peaceful coexistence.”
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Germany’s domestic security agency, has estimated that there may be as many as 450 members of Hamas in Germany engaged in various activities, from raising money for the terror group to disseminating propaganda.
Guido Steinberg, a Middle East expert from the Berlin-based German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), has claimed there may be far more sympathisers of the terror group in the country, however.
“We have to assume that the number of supporters is in the four-digit range,” Steinberg said, noting that some supporters may be passive and not publicly state their views.
The raids against Hamas supporters come just a week after police raided 54 properties in seven different states linked to the Islamic Center of Hamburg (IZH), which has been accused of having ties to the Lebanon-based group Hezbollah.
Germany has also banned the controversial slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” a trademark of Hamas.
