Germany: Raids target people linked to Hamas, far-right, Palestinian groups
Police officers stand in front of a house amid ongoing raids.
Germany on Thursday (Nov 23) conducted raids in the homes of supporters and members of government-banned Hamas and another Palestinian organisation as well as some far-right groups.
"We are carrying out action against radical Islamists. By banning Hamas and Samidoun in Germany, we have sent a clear signal that we will not tolerate any apology or support for Hamas's barbaric terror against Israel," said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser.
"Islamists and ant-Semites must not feel safe anywhere," she added.
The interior ministry said 15 properties have been raided since 6:00 am (local time).
On November 2, Germany announced a ban on Hamas and Samidoun. There are nearly 450 Hamas members in the country, as per the official figures.
The ministry stated that although Hamas members had not staged "violent action" till now in Germany, they had made attempts to increase funds to help the group overseas and "influence the social and political discourse in Germany".
It said that on the other hand, Samidoun was "prone to use violence ... and denies the right of Israel to exist".
Nearly 240 hostages were taken by Hamas and other Palestinian gunmen after they stormed into Israel on October 7, in which 1,200 civilians were also killed, according to Israeli authorities.
The attack followed an Israeli offensive into Hamas-run Gaza in which till now more than 14,000 people have been killed, thousands of them being children.
Nationwide raids on far-right group
Nationwide raids were carried out on people with alleged links to a far-right group which was aimed at spreading conspiracy theories and "destabilising" the state with the help of social media, prosecutors said.
Data sticks, smartphones and computers were seized in the searches carried out in 20 apartments in eight states, stated the prosecutor's office in Munich, in a statement.
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The investigation was carried out over an alleged plot made by members of the far-right "Reichsbuerger" movement, which was behind the plan drawn for overthrowing the government and installing a self-styled prince as the new leader of Germany.
The latest plot was mentioned on various channels on the messaging service Telegram, prosecutors said.
They added that the channels have been used since early 2021 for spreading conspiracy theories, and the channels' operators organised "mass contacting" of authorities through email and phone.
This was "in order to force them to make decisions in favour of the members of the association”.
"The overriding aim... was to destabilise Germany and its institutions and to prevent, or at least hinder, lawful state action," the statement added.
“Those contacted were confronted with far-right conspiracy theories, and faced insults and death threats,” the prosecutors said.
(With inputs from agencies)