German authorities on Thursday remanded into custody three alleged members of the Palestinian militant group Hamas on suspicion of plotting attacks on Israeli or Jewish institutions in Germany.
The suspects appeared before an investigating judge in the western city of Karlsruhe, where formal arrest warrants were issued, said Ines Peterson, a spokesperson for the federal prosecutor’s office.
They were set to be transferred to a prison for detention ahead of a trial, which is likely to take months as an investigation continues.
Germany’s federal prosecutor announced Wednesday that the suspects were arrested on suspicion of being involved in procuring firearms since earlier this summer. Various weapons, including an AK-47 rifle, and ammunition were found during a raid.
Two of the suspects are German citizens. The federal prosecutor’s office described the third as being born in Lebanon. They were only named as Abed Al G., Wael F. M., and Ahmad I., in line with German privacy rules.
Hamas said in a statement Wednesday that it has no connection to the suspects, calling the allegations of a link to the group baseless and aimed at “undermining the German people’s sympathy with our Palestinian people and their legitimate struggle against the Zionist occupation.”
Hamas also said it has always confined its armed struggle to Israel and the Palestinian territories and would continue to do so. It has carried out hundreds of attacks against Israeli civilians, but has rarely operated outside Israel and the Palestinian territories.
