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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)
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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.

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Greece Fights Dozens of Wildfires in 'Most Difficult Day of Year'

Firefighters arrive to extinguish a wildfire burning in Stamata, near Athens, Greece, June 30, 2024. REUTERS/Elias Marcou
Firefighters arrive to extinguish a wildfire burning in Stamata, near Athens, Greece, June 30, 2024. REUTERS/Elias Marcou
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Greece Fights Dozens of Wildfires in 'Most Difficult Day of Year'

Firefighters arrive to extinguish a wildfire burning in Stamata, near Athens, Greece, June 30, 2024. REUTERS/Elias Marcou
Firefighters arrive to extinguish a wildfire burning in Stamata, near Athens, Greece, June 30, 2024. REUTERS/Elias Marcou

Firefighters were battling a series of wildfires near the Greek capital Athens on Sunday evening, as the country braces for another scorching summer.
Greece faces a tough wildfire season after its warmest winter and earliest heatwave on record, with temperatures hitting 44°C (111°F), said AFP.
"Today in Attica two extremely dangerous fires that broke out in residential areas and spread rapidly due to strong winds in Keratea and Stamata were tackled", Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Vasilis Kikilias said late on Sunday.
He said there was no longer an active front in Stamata, north of Athens, though there were some minor reignitions in the eastern area of Keratea.
He said "ground forces will remain in the field throughout the night".
Since Sunday midday, the authorities have called for the evacuation of at least eight areas near the capital, with flames destroying cars and houses.
Ert channel reported that a 45-year-old-man died from a cardiac arrest while trying to flee fires in suburban Athens.
According to the police, the man was found unconscious in the yard of a house in Rodopoli and taken to hospital where he died.
"Today is the hardest that the Fire Brigade has faced in this year's firefighting season," fire department spokesperson Vasilis Vathrakogiannis said on Sunday afternoon, during an emergency press briefing.
"The situation is very difficult, as strong winds continue to blow, they have not subsided and the outbreaks are many," the mayor of Lavreotiki, Dimitris Loukas, told Athens News Agency Sunday afternoon.
However he said a nearby military air base was not currently in danger from the flames.
Fire brigade spokesman noted that wind speeds had exceeded 60 km per hour in Keratea, while in Stamata, the blaze was fanned by strong northerly winds exceeding 70 km an hour.
Island fires
A fire also broke out Sunday in an industrial zone in Ritsona, near the island of Evia.
Black smoke filled the sky above Ritsona after the fire started in a recycling factory, burning various flammable materials that were in the grounds around it, including tyres and mattresses.
Firefighters are fighting to prevent the flames from spreading beyond the recycling plant to other factories in the area.
The fire also approached a refugee center, but the Athens News Agency reported that this was not believed to be in danger.
Separately, a large wildfire broke out on Serifos island on Saturday afternoon, but was also brought under control by firefighters early Sunday.
"All of southwestern Serifos has burned. We are talking about an area where the fire stopped at the sea," Serifos mayor Konstantinos Revintis told MEGA TV.
The fire caused damage to houses, cottages, warehouses and chapels, according to the mayor.
The Fire Danger Forecast Map issued for Sunday by the Civil Protection Ministry predicted a very high category 4 risk of fire for Attica, the Peloponnese, Crete, the North and South Aegean Regions, and central Greece.
A wildfire ignited Saturday afternoon in the area of Mount Parnitha-- known as "the lungs of Athens" -- was controlled Saturday evening with the help of reinforcements from other regions as well as volunteer firefighters.
More than forty wildfires erupted across Saturday in Greece with wind speeds exceeding 100 kilometers (62 miles) per hour, according to fire brigade sources.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called on Greeks to brace for a difficult wildfire season in his weekly Facebook post on Sunday.
"The difficult times are still ahead of us. Our effort is continuous. In this effort, our allies are new tools that build a new culture of prevention and responsibility," he said.