Police in Germany raid properties of Hamas supporters across the country
BERLIN — Hundreds of police officers searched the properties of Hamas members and followers in Germany on Thursday morning following a formal ban on any activity by or in support of the militant group.
The German government implemented the ban Nov. 2 and dissolved Samidoun, a group that was behind a celebration in Berlin of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Germany’s domestic intelligence service estimates that Hamas has around 450 members in the country. Their activities include expressions of sympathy, propaganda, financing and fundraising to strengthen the organization abroad.
“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.”
The raids, which took place mostly in Berlin, were meant to enforce the bans and to further investigate the groups, the German Interior Ministry said in a statement.
Sixteen properties were searched by 500 police officers in Berlin and the states of Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has strongly condemned a firebomb assault on a synagogue in Berlin, saying that “we will never accept” such attacks.
In Berlin alone, more than 300 police officers carried out searches at 11 locations in order to seize evidence and assets. Seven searches were related to Hamas and four to Samidoun, authorities said. The searches mainly took place at the homes of supporters and the premises of a Palestinian association, German news agency DPA reported.
Germany has been clamping down on groups supporting antisemitism in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war.
On Tuesday, police raided the homes of 17 people in the southern state of Bavaria who were accused of spreading antisemitic hate speech and threats targeting Jews online. On Nov. 16, German police raided 54 locations across the country in an investigation of a Hamburg-based organization suspected of promoting the Iranian leadership’s ideology and possibly supporting activities of Hezbollah in Germany.
“We are keeping a close eye on the Islamist scene,” Faeser said. “Islamists and antisemites cannot and must not feel safe anywhere here.” She said the members and supporters of Hamas in Germany were committed to influencing the country’s political and social discourse.
The four-day truce had been expected to begin Thursday but seemed to hit a late snag. Humanitarian groups hope more aid can start flowing into Gaza.
Hamas has vowed to annihilate Israel and has been responsible for many suicide bombings and other deadly attacks on civilians and Israeli soldiers. After the group’s incursion into Israel in October, Israel vowed to wipe out Hamas.
The U.S. State Department designated Hamas a terrorist organization in 1997. The European Union and other Western countries also consider it a terrorist organization.
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