Israeli intelligence on Wednesday unveiled the dismantling of what it dubbed the “Hamas Octopus” — a sprawling Europe-wide terror network that stockpiled weapons to strike Israeli and Jewish targets on “command day.”
The Mossad said the months-long investigation exposed terror infrastructure built by Hamas leadership to carry out attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets on European soil, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office acting on behalf of the spy agency.
In a rare public disclosure, the Mossad credited close cooperation with European intelligence and law-enforcement services for the arrests of Hamas operatives and the seizure of weapons caches across the continent.
European law-enforcement authorities carried out a series of complex counter-terrorism operations that resulted in the arrest of Hamas operatives and the exposure of weapons stockpiles prepared for use by terror cells against civilians, the statement said.
Among the most significant discoveries was a weapons hideout uncovered in Vienna last September by Austria’s Directorate for State Security and Intelligence, containing pistols and explosive devices.
During interrogations, investigators determined the cache belonged to Muhammad Naim, the son of senior Hamas political bureau official Basem Naim, who is close to Khalil al-Hayya, the Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, according to the Mossad.
The investigation also revealed a meeting held in Qatar between Muhammad Naim and his father in September, Israeli intelligence said.
“The timing of the meeting between the two indicates possible involvement of Hamas leadership in advancing terrorism in Europe, granting authority and approval to operatives to promote attacks,” the Mossad stated.
The spy agency noted that Hamas leadership’s involvement in promoting terrorist activity from Qatar “is not being revealed for the first time,” even though senior figures repeatedly deny it publicly as part of efforts to protect the organization’s image, adding that the leadership’s sweeping denials “may indicate a loss of control over rogue operatives.”
The probe has also focused on potential links between European operatives and Hamas elements in Turkey, which Israeli intelligence described as a convenient operational hub for the organization.
In November, German authorities arrested Burhan al-Khatib, a prominent operative in the network, after he had stayed in Turkey following what the Mossad described as the completion of his operational activities on European soil.
A month earlier, German police arrested three alleged Hamas operatives on suspicion of attempting to procure weapons for attacks, seizing an AK-47 assault rifle, handguns, and ammunition, Israeli media reported.
Hamas has denied any connection to the three men, even as German prosecutors accuse them of acting on behalf of the terror group to secure weapons for attacks on Jewish targets.
Earlier this month, German police announced the arrest in London of a 39-year-old British man on a German warrant, suspected of links to the alleged Hamas members in Germany who are accused of plotting attacks on Jewish targets, prosecutors said.
According to Germany’s Federal Prosecutor, the suspect had been given five handguns and ammunition, which he transported to Vienna for storage.
Austria’s state intelligence agency seized the arms in Vienna after probing what the country’s interior ministry described as a “globally active terrorist organization with close ties” to Hamas.
In February, four alleged Hamas members went on trial in Berlin on charges of plotting attacks against Jewish institutions in Germany — in what prosecutors described as the first court case against Hamas terrorists in the country.
According to the Mossad, European authorities have expanded their efforts beyond security operations into the legal-political sphere, targeting Hamas-linked organizations used for fundraising and recruiting operatives, including associations and religious institutions that operate under humanitarian or cultural cover.
“The partnership of European security and law-enforcement authorities in the global campaign against the terrorist threat posed by Hamas reflects a growing international understanding of the intensifying danger and their determination to thwart any Hamas terrorist activity on their soil,” the statement said.
Since the October 7 massacre, the Mossad said, Hamas has intensified efforts to build infrastructure and recruit terror cells in Europe and other arenas, similar to the Iranian regime and its proxies.
“The Mossad, together with its partners in the Israeli and international intelligence and security community, is leading extensive efforts to thwart terrorism targeting Israeli, Jewish, and innocent civilian targets worldwide,” the agency said, adding it continues working to thwart dozens of attack plots globally as part of its responsibility for counterterrorism abroad.
Hamas is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Egypt-founded Islamist movement that has sought to establish networks across Europe for decades.
A French government report released in May found that the Muslim Brotherhood embarked upon a decades-long effort to infiltrate European institutions and radicalize Muslim communities, describing the movement’s bid to build a “fifth column” in Europe and pursue a renewed “Western conquest strategy” while masking its aims behind campaigns against “Islamophobia.”
The French intelligence paper also flagged Turkey as providing “essential logistical and financial support” to the Muslim Brotherhood’s European branch — a warning that dovetails with the Mossad’s description of Turkey as a convenient operational hub for Hamas activity on the continent.
Responding to that report, Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli told Breitbart News in May that European leaders are “surrendering to the Muslim Brotherhood,” warning that the terror group’s parent organization has entrenched itself within European state institutions.
Chikli urged Jews to leave countries like England and Belgium, stating he does not see “any way to secure Jewish life in states that have surrendered to Muslim fanaticism” — a warning underscored by the Mossad’s latest revelations of a Hamas “octopus” burrowing into Europe and preparing to strike on command.
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
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