Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad announced that it has disrupted a significant Hamas terrorist network that was operating across multiple European countries, in what it described as a major counterterrorism breakthrough. According to a statement issued by the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, the dismantled infrastructure was allegedly designed to prepare and execute attacks on Israeli and Jewish targets in Europe, acting under direct instructions from Hamas’s senior leadership. The operation, carried out in coordination with security agencies in Germany, Austria, and other European nations, resulted in multiple arrests and the discovery of concealed weapons stockpiles.
Mossad said the caches contained firearms and explosives intended for activation by Hamas-linked cells “on the day the order is given,” highlighting the urgency and high-risk nature of the planned attacks. The intelligence agency also revealed that investigators are probing the suspected involvement of Hamas operatives based in Turkey who may have played a supporting role in facilitating or coordinating the planned assaults. In addition, Mossad alleged that Hamas’s leadership in Qatar was directly involved in overseeing the European network, reinforcing long-standing claims that the group’s external command structure has been directing operations abroad.
A major turning point in the investigation reportedly came last September in Vienna, where Austrian authorities, working with Mossad, uncovered a hidden weapons cache stocked with handguns and explosive devices. That stash was traced to Hamas operative Muhammad Na’im, the son of senior Hamas Political Bureau member Basem Na’im, a well-known associate of Gaza-based leader Khalil al-Hayya. Mossad contends that Muhammad Na’im was responsible for constructing the group’s European infrastructure, allegedly operating in coordination with his father. The agency disclosed that the two met in Qatar last September, a detail it says indicates potential direct involvement from the organisation’s upper leadership in greenlighting overseas terror plots.
Officials noted that this is not the first instance in which intelligence has pointed to Qatar-based Hamas figures being linked to operational planning, despite the group’s public claims that it does not engage in foreign attacks. Mossad’s statement added that since the October 7 assault on Israel, Hamas has accelerated efforts to rebuild and expand its terror networks abroad, mirroring tactics used by Iran and its regional proxies.
The multinational investigation remains active, with European and Israeli officials now working to map out the full extent of the network and examine whether additional Hamas-linked operatives across different regions may be connected to the plot.
