By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
BERLIN (Worthy News) – German authorities said Thursday that hundreds of police officers searched the properties of Hamas members and followers amid a broader crackdown on anti-Israel terror groups.
Berlin had banned activities related to Hamas — a designated terrorist group — and the international pro-Palestinian network Samidoun at the beginning of November.
Germany’s domestic intelligence service announced that Hamas has around 450 members in the country.
Their activities include expressions of sympathy, propaganda, financing, and fundraising to strengthen the organization abroad, officials said.
“We are continuing our consistent action against radical Islamists,” German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said. “By banning Hamas and Samidoun in Germany, we have sent a clear signal that we will not tolerate any glorification or support of Hamas’ barbaric terror against Israel.”
Germany, which is still reeling from its past role in the Holocaust when 6 million Jews were killed, expressed shock about the October 7 Hamas attacks in Israel that killed 1,200 people.
“Islamists and antisemites must not feel safe anywhere,” Faeser added.
SEARCHES WIDESPREAD
Searches were carried out in Berlin, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Schleswig-Holstein, police said.
A spokesperson for the Senate Interior Administration said that more than 300 police officers participated in the raids of 15 properties, 11 of them in Berlin.
Seven searches concerned Hamas and four Samidoun. There were no immediate reports of arrests.
Yet Germany’s interior ministry said that Thursday’s raids were conducted to enforce the ban on the two groups and collect further information.
Critics have questioned whether it would have been wiser to ban the organizations and the raids simultaneously.
A concurrent operation would have prevented members from being able to destroy evidence, commented Germany’s broadcaster Deutsche Welle.
Last week, authorities also conducted nationwide searches of 54 locations across seven federal states connected to the Islamic Center of Hamburg, suspected of supporting Hezbollah militia. They reportedly happened mainly at the homes of supporters and the premises of a Palestinian association.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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