An uncompromising struggle to thwart terrorist attacks worldwide: Close cooperation between the Mossad and intelligence and law enforcement agencies in Europe has led to the seizure of weapons caches and the arrests of terrorist operatives on the continent.
Following a lengthy investigation led by the Mossad for Intelligence and Special Operations, and thanks to cooperation with European intelligence and law enforcement agencies, terrorist infrastructures built by Hamas with the aim of carrying out attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets have recently been thwarted.
Law and enforcement authorities in Europe, including in Germany and Austria, have conducted a series of complex counter-terrorism operations, resulting in the arrest of terrorist operatives and the discovery of weapons caches intended for use by terrorist cells to harm innocent people ‘on the day the order is given.’
In a special operation by the Austrian State Security and Intelligence Directorate (DSN) in Vienna last September, a weapons hideout containing handguns and explosive devices was uncovered and confiscated. The investigation of those involved revealed that the items hidden in the cache belonged to Hamas operative Muhammad Na’im, the son of senior Hamas Political Bureau member abroad, Basem Na’im, who is close to Khalil al-Hayya, the Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip. The involvement of the organization’s leadership from Qatar in promoting terrorist activities is not being exposed for the first time, even though the movement’s senior officials have repeatedly denied it publicly, as part of their effort to protect the image of the Hamas organization in the eyes of international public opinion.
As part of the investigation that exposed Muhammad Na’im’s responsibility for building the terrorist infrastructure in Vienna, additional information emerged regarding a meeting held in Qatar between him and his father, Basem Na’im, a senior Hamas leader, last September. The meeting between the two at that time indicates a possible involvement of the Hamas leadership in promoting terrorism in Europe, with authorization for the movement’s operatives to advance terrorism with authority and sanction. The sweeping denials by the movement’s leadership on this matter can only attest to the leadership’s loss of control over its rogue operatives.
The investigation into the hamas terror network in Europe is currently examining the possible involvement of Hamas elements in Turkey in promoting the intention to carry out attacks, some of which have been exposed. This is due to Turkey being a convenient operational arena for Hamas operatives in the past and present. As part of the investigation by European security and enforcement bodies, a prominent operative in the infrastructure, Barah al-Khatib, was arrested in Germany last November, after having stayed in Turkey, apparently after completing his operational activity on European soil.
The partnership of security and enforcement authorities in Europe in the global campaign against the Hamas terrorist threat reflects the growing international understanding of the escalating threat and their determination to thwart any Hamas terrorist activity on their soil. Furthermore, there is an apparent expansion of the struggle by European law enforcement authorities on the legal and diplomatic level against Hamas’s incitement and extremism activities and the bodies operating on its behalf, including associations and religious institutions, which Hamas uses for fundraising and recruiting terrorist operatives, as was recently done in Germany.
The Mossad, together with its partners in the Israeli and global intelligence and security communities, is leading extensive efforts to thwart terrorism against Israeli, Jewish, and innocent targets worldwide. Since the October 7 massacre, the Hamas terrorist organization has been working with renewed vigor to build infrastructure and recruit terrorist cells in Europe and other arenas, similar to the Iranian regime and its proxies. Even now, the Mossad continues its determined activity to thwart dozens of attack channels around the world as part of its responsibility to thwart terrorism abroad and its commitment to the security and defense of Israel.
Attached are photographs of Basem Na’im and Muhammad Na’im, as well as pictures of the seized weapons and a map of the current operational centers of the thwarted Hamas infrastructure.