Police raid homes linked with Hamas in Germany

BERLIN: Hundreds of police officers in Germany have searched 15 properties, which have been linked to supporters and sympathisers of Hamas, after a recent ban on the Palestinian terrorist group in the country, reported Euronews.

The formal ban was initiated on November 2, with the pro-Palestinian group, Samidoun, being officially dissolved on the same day.

The Samidoun group had celebrated Hamas' October 7 attacks in Berlin. "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," she added. German authorities have claimed that Hamas has around 450 members in the country, including groups who are financing and fundraising Hamas and expressing sympathy toward the group, Euronews has reported.

Most of Thursday morning's raids, which began at 6 am local time, took place in the German capital of Berlin. 11 locations across the country were raided by more than 300 police officers, with seven of the locations being linked to Hamas and four being linked to the previously dissolved Samidoun group. Other searches took place outside of Berlin, in the states of Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein, reported Euronews.

German officials have also been taking greater action in their attempt to crack down on anti-Semitism and hateful rhetoric toward Jewish communities in the country.

On Tuesday, police raided the homes of 17 people in the southern state of Bavaria accused of spreading antisemitic hate speech and threats against the Jewish community. "We are keeping a close eye on the Islamist scene," Nancy Faeser said of the searches. "Islamists and antisemites cannot and must not feel safe anywhere here."