Berlin court jails 4 men over Hamas weapon stockpiles

A Berlin court has sentenced four members of a Hamas-linked underground cell to several years in prison.

The men were found guilty of stockpiling weapons for future use in terror attacks in Europe, with specific targets in Germany.

What do we know about the Hamas plot in Germany?

The Berlin State Protection Senate, part of the Berlin Court of Appeal, handed down prison terms ranging from four and a half to six years for membership in a foreign terrorist organization and related offenses.

Judges agreed with prosecutors that the men, aged 36 to 58, had acted as foreign operatives for the Qassam Brigades, Hamas's military wing. The prosecution said they had already established several firearms caches in Europe.

The Federal Prosecutor's Office's accusations were confirmed "to the full satisfaction of the Senate," said presiding judge Doris Husch.

According to the court, the stockpiles were intended for use in potential attacks on Israeli, Jewish or other facilities in Europe over an extended period. The sites were across several European countries, including Poland, Bulgaria and Denmark.

Possible targets included the Israeli embassy in Berlin, the US Ramstein airbase and the area around Berlin's disused Tempelhof airport.

The men denied being Hamas members. The main accused did admit to visiting an arms cache in Bulgaria but claimed his visit concerned "private arms dealing."

All four men were born in Lebanon, with one being an Egyptian citizen and the other a Dutch national. Three had lived primarily in Germany, and one mainly in the Netherlands. The defendants were arrested in December 2023 and have been in custody since then.

The Federal Prosecutor's Office received a tip from the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution shortly after the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Spate of arrests over weapon caches

In recent months, prosecutors have had several more suspects arrested in connection with alleged arms procurement for Hamas. According to investigators, the weapons were also intended for attacks on Israeli or Jewish institutions in Germany and Europe.

In early October 2025, the Karlsruhe-based prosecuting authority had three suspected Hamas members arrested in Berlin. This was followed by an arrest in London, one at the German-Czech border, and one at the German-Danish border. Most recently, in January, a suspect was arrested at Berlin Airport upon arrival from Beirut.

Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization by many countries including the United States, Israel and Germany.

Edited by: Wesley Dockery