Hamas plot to carry out terror attack on Jewish institutions in Europe is foiled as arrests are made in Germany and Holland – after similar raids took place in Denmark
Danish authorities said Thursday they have prevented a terror attack after three arrests in Denmark and a fourth in the Netherlands, as Israel said the suspects in Denmark were acting “on behalf of Hamas.”
In Berlin, prosecutors said German police also arrested three suspected Hamas members on Thursday, accused of planning an attack on Jewish targets in Europe.
The three men, together with another suspect arrested in the Netherlands, are said to have started preparing a weapons depot in the German capital, where weapons would be 'kept on alert in view of possible terrorist attacks on Jewish institutions in Europe' . German federal prosecutors said this in a statement.
Danish police declined to comment on whether there was any connection between the reported arrests in Denmark and Germany.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, said in a statement that Danish security forces had “thwarted an attack aimed at killing innocent civilians on European soil.”
“The terrorist organization Hamas has worked relentlessly and exhaustively to expand its deadly operations into Europe, threatening the internal security of these countries,” Netanyahu said.
Danish police did not go into details about the suspects or give any indication about the possible target of the alleged plot.
Danish police said raids were underway across the country and were being carried out at an early stage in the investigation
Israel's Mossad spy agency said Danish agencies had exposed “Hamas infrastructure on European territory,” according to a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office (pictured).
FILE – Palestinian militants from Hamas ride on a truck with their weapons
“It was a group that planned an act of terror,” Flemming Drejer, head of operations at the PET intelligence service, told a news conference.
There were “ramifications involving other countries” and organized crime, he added.
Drejer would only say that other suspects who are currently abroad are also involved in the plot.
The PET and several police districts made the arrests in Denmark during early morning raids in several parts of the Scandinavian country, officials said.
The threat level against Denmark is considered high, with the PET rating it at four on the five-point threat scale.
Police increased their presence in Copenhagen but said the capital remained “safe.”
Nevertheless, the Jewish community canceled a public Hanukkah celebration planned for Thursday evening, Danish media reported.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the operations “show us the situation Denmark is in.”
“For several years now we have noticed that there are people who live in Denmark and do not wish us success, who are against our democracy and our freedom, and who are against Danish society,” she told reporters.
Drejer and Dahl hold a press conference on coordinated police action at the police station in Copenhagen, Denmark
Chief Inspector of Police and Operational Chief of Police Intelligence (PET) Flemming Drejer (R) and Senior Police Inspector and Chief of Emergency Services in Copenhagen Police Peter Dahl hold a press conference on coordinated police action at the police station in Copenhagen, Denmark
Over the summer, Denmark and neighboring Sweden became the target of anger in several Muslim countries after a series of protests in Scandinavia during which the Koran was burned and desecrated.
In Iraq, nearly a thousand demonstrators attempted to march on the Danish embassy in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone in late July, following a call from incendiary cleric Moqtada Sadr.
According to figures from the national police, 483 book burnings or flag burnings were recorded in Denmark between July 21 and October 24 this year.
In response, the Danish parliament passed a law earlier this month that criminalizes the burning, tearing or otherwise defiling of religious texts, such as Islam's holy book.
In 2006, a wave of anti-Danish anger and violence broke out in the Muslim world following the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in the small Scandinavian country.
And in February 2015, a gunman who declared allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group opened fire on a cultural center in Copenhagen where a forum on Islam and freedom of expression was being held.
Last year, a Danish court sentenced an IS sympathizer to 16 years in prison for plotting a bomb attack. The sentence was the harshest ever handed down under Danish anti-terrorism laws.