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Germany, Netherlands Arrest 9 over Alleged Plan for Attacks in Line with ISIS

The sun rises over the city of Wehrheim near Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, July 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
The sun rises over the city of Wehrheim near Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, July 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
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Germany, Netherlands Arrest 9 over Alleged Plan for Attacks in Line with ISIS

The sun rises over the city of Wehrheim near Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, July 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
The sun rises over the city of Wehrheim near Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, July 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Nine people from central Asia were arrested in Germany and the Netherlands on Thursday in connection to alleged plans to carry out attacks in Germany in line with ISIS’ ideology, authorities said.

Seven men arrested in Germany are accused of founding a militant group and of supporting ISIS, German federal prosecutors said. All had known each other for a long time, had radical views and came to Germany more or less simultaneously from Ukraine shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion last year, they added.

A year ago, the suspects allegedly formed a group that aimed to carry out attacks in Germany. According to prosecutors, the group was in contact with an ISIS offshoot, ISIS Khorasan Province.

Its members had checked out possible targets in Germany and attempted to procure weapons, but “there was no concrete plan for an attack at the time of today's arrest," The Associated Press quoted prosecutors as saying in a statement. All but one of the men arrested in Germany had been collecting money for ISIS since April 2022 and transferring it to the group, they added.

In the Netherlands, the public prosecution service said that a 29-year-old Tajik man and his 31-year-old Kyrgyz wife, who had been living in the country since last year, were arrested on suspicion of committing preparatory acts for attacks. The man is also suspected of membership in ISIS.

Police suspect that the man “was given the order to plot a terrorist attack,” the prosecution service said in a statement. It said the plans were serious enough for prosecutors to intervene, although they were “not yet concrete.” German prosecutors said the man arrested in the Netherlands belonged to the group formed by the other suspects.

The arrests in Germany were made in various locations in North Rhine-Westphalia state, which borders the Netherlands. German prosecutors identified the men arrested there as Turkmen citizen Ata A., Kyrgyz national Abrorjon K., and Tajik citizens Mukhammadshujo A., Nuriddin K., Shamshud N., Said S. and Raboni Z.

Their full names weren't released in line with German privacy rules.

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Israeli Finance Minister Says Banks Should Not Obey EU Sanctions on Settlers

20 July 2022, Israel, Barkan: Right-wing settlers march to build a settlement in the West Bank near Barkan. (dpa)
20 July 2022, Israel, Barkan: Right-wing settlers march to build a settlement in the West Bank near Barkan. (dpa)
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Israeli Finance Minister Says Banks Should Not Obey EU Sanctions on Settlers

20 July 2022, Israel, Barkan: Right-wing settlers march to build a settlement in the West Bank near Barkan. (dpa)
20 July 2022, Israel, Barkan: Right-wing settlers march to build a settlement in the West Bank near Barkan. (dpa)

Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Thursday condemned the country's banks that have refused to provide services to Israeli settlers sanctioned by the European Union and warned they may have to pay compensation to them.

The EU last year imposed sanctions on five Israeli settlers for violence against Palestinians and Smotrich said there were reports of sanctions being considered against other settlers.

But in a letter to the banking supervisor, he said Israeli banks should not follow a "zero risk" policy since it leads to the abandonment of Israeli clients "under the guise of compliance with foreign sanctions."

In a statement quoting his letter to the regulator, Smotrich called on banks to use their legal, economic, and international strength to fight "unjust sanctions", Reuters reported.

"The banks’ enormous profits enable them to take measured risks on behalf of their clients — especially when it comes to a national moral injustice," Smotrich, who leads the far-right Religious Zionism party, said.

Should banks continue to comply with sanctions and harm clients, Smotrich said he intended to promote immediate legislation that would require banks to pay substantial compensation to affected customers.

He also intends to require the Bank of Israel itself to offer banking services to citizens targeted by sanctions.

Responding to the letter, the Bank of Israel said that while banks must comply with international sanctions to avoid an array of risks, a draft directive it published on Thursday aimed to ensure appropriate banking services were available for the affected customers.

"Circumventing foreign sanctions regimes through the Israeli banking system exposes banking corporations to multiple risks, including compliance risks, anti-money laundering and counter-terror financing risks, legal risks, and reputational risks," the central bank said.

But it said it has taken steps to comply with sanctions "without banks resorting to blanket refusals to serve such customers."

While the sanctions in question concern Israeli settlers, the EU is reviewing its broad pact governing its political and economic ties with Israel in the face of mounting international pressure on Israel amid complaints about the lack of humanitarian aid reaching Gaza in the wake of the war triggered by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack.