The indictment, which has not been published, says the attacks were to take place simultaneously or in close succession around October 7, 2025. The main targets were said to be Israeli diplomats, Jewish community centers, and pro-Israel demonstrations.
Prosecutors say the plan was supported by an international weapons procurement network that smuggled pistols, an automatic rifle, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition through Denmark, Germany, and Austria. Investigators believe the scheme was meant to push Hamas in Europe beyond its previous activities, which were mainly linked to financing, propaganda, and logistics.
On October 1, 2025, German authorities detained three suspects in Berlin during the handover of a shipment of weapons. In the courtyard of an apartment building on Turmstrasse in the Moabit district, investigators seized a fully automatic Crvena Zastava rifle, eight Glock 26 pistols, and more than 600 rounds of ammunition.
The investigation believes the network operated through two coordinated channels: one supplied the Berlin arsenal, while the other transported five pistols and ammunition from Copenhagen through Berlin to Vienna. There they were stored in a rented facility together with clothing and other equipment.
According to prosecutors, one of the defendants was a confidential informant for the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution — Germany’s domestic intelligence agency — and continued reporting to his handler without revealing the full extent of his role in obtaining ammunition. The case materials also say that even before Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack, there were plans to create and train operational cells in Europe, use Turkey as a base, and direct actions remotely; prosecutors say the weapons operation was also coordinated from Lebanon.
In August 2025, one of the suspects recorded a video in Vienna claiming responsibility: wearing a mask, holding a weapon, and standing in front of a Hamas flag, he threatened revenge in Europe on behalf of the al-Qassam Brigades.
The case has already been transferred to the state security division of Berlin’s Higher Regional Court and, according to the prosecution, is set to become one of the largest terrorism trials in Germany in recent years.
Sources
