German Interior Minister Supports Deportation of Hamas Supporters

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser gives a statement to the press prior to the EU Justice and Home Affairs council in Luxembourg, 19 October 2023. (EPA)
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser gives a statement to the press prior to the EU Justice and Home Affairs council in Luxembourg, 19 October 2023. (EPA)
TT

German Interior Minister Supports Deportation of Hamas Supporters

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser gives a statement to the press prior to the EU Justice and Home Affairs council in Luxembourg, 19 October 2023. (EPA)
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser gives a statement to the press prior to the EU Justice and Home Affairs council in Luxembourg, 19 October 2023. (EPA)

Germany's interior minister said on Friday Hamas supporters should be deported from the country where possible, and authorities would keep a close eye on potential threats following the Palestinian militant group's attack on Israel.

"If we are able to deport Hamas supporters, we must do this," Nancy Faeser said following talks with officials at the Federal Criminal Police Office.

"Our security authorities have currently placed an even stronger focus on the Islamist scene," she added, pointing to a recent attack in Brussels as an indication of the threat.

Concerns over antisemitism are growing in Germany, particularly following an attempted attack on a Berlin synagogue with petrol bombs, and clashes between pro-Palestinian protesters and police in Berlin and other cities.

At the same time members of Germany's large Palestinian community have said their voices are being silenced by demonstration bans.

Faeser appealed to citizens to alert authorities of any "propaganda" supporting Hamas.

On Friday, prosecutors in Munich searched the house of a 38-year-old German national over an Instagram post defending Hamas's attack, according to a statement from the prosecutor.

"We will not allow this vile hatred and horrific violence to spread," Faeser told reporters.



At Least 121 People, Mostly Women, Killed in India Stampede

Police tape cordons off the scene a day after a fatal stampede, in Fulrai village of Hathras district, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Police tape cordons off the scene a day after a fatal stampede, in Fulrai village of Hathras district, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
TT

At Least 121 People, Mostly Women, Killed in India Stampede

Police tape cordons off the scene a day after a fatal stampede, in Fulrai village of Hathras district, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Police tape cordons off the scene a day after a fatal stampede, in Fulrai village of Hathras district, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

The death toll from a stampede at a Hindu religious gathering in northern India has risen to 121, news agency ANI reported on Wednesday, where a police report said the number of people present was more than triple the organizers had permission for.

The stampede on Tuesday was at the religious event in a village in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh state, about 200 km southeast of New Delhi, where police had given permission for 80,000 people to gather, according to the document, the first information report.

Around 250,000 people attended the event, according to the police report reviewed by Reuters.

At least 121 people were killed and 28 were injured, ANI news agency reported, citing local officials.

The victims included 108 women and seven children, Manoj Kumar Singh, Uttar Pradesh state's chief secretary, told reporters.

The document described a scene of utter chaos when the preacher at the congregation, Surajpal, also known as 'Bhole Baba', was leaving in his car.

Thousands of devotees shouted and ran towards the car, crushing others still sitting in the gathering, according to the document. Some people also fell into an adjacent field of slush and mud and were trampled there.

Local media said the event was organized by a group of devotees, but did not identify anyone. ANI news agency said police were trying to ascertain the whereabouts of the preacher.
Deadly incidents are common at places of worship during major religious festivals in India, the biggest of which prompt millions of devotees to make pilgrimages to holy sites.

Chaitra V., divisional commissioner of Aligarh city in Uttar Pradesh state, initially said panic began when "attendees were exiting the venue when a dust storm blinded their vision, leading to a melee".

But Singh told reporters after visiting the site that worshippers had scrambled to get close to the preacher.