The Palestinian militant group Hamas is running a network of operatives tasked with carrying out terrorist attacks in European countries, Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad has warned.
The statement came after seven people were arrested last month in Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands on suspicion of planning to target Jewish sites.
“Hamas terrorist organization has acted to expand its violent activity abroad in order to attack innocents around the world,” Mossad and the Israel Security Agency said in a statement released by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Saturday.
It added that the militants planned to attack the Israeli Embassy in Sweden and sought to purchase drones.
The suspects arrested in Europe last month were part of a larger Hamas network coordinated from Lebanon, Israeli officials said, adding that Hamas had planned to enlist the help of “criminal organizations” on the continent.
Danish prosecutor Anders Larsson confirmed that the case stemming from the December arrest “has links to Hamas,” Danish police told AFP on Friday. The group itself has not commented on the matter, but said in the past that it only commits attacks in Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank, according to Reuters.
As Israel marks 100 days of its war with Hamas, Netanyahu addressed the nation on Sunday, reiterating that the operation in Gaza will continue until Israel completely neutralizes the threat coming from Hamas.
“Nobody will stop us – not The Hague, not the axis of evil and not anybody else,” Netanyahu said, referring to the genocide case brought before the International Court of Justice by South Africa. Israel rejected the accusations of indiscriminately killing Palestinians, speaking during the first day of hearings on Thursday.
The latest round of fighting between Israel and Hamas began on October 7, when the Palestinian militants carried out a surprise attack on southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking more than 200 hostages. Israel responded by declaring war on Hamas and vowing to “eradicate” the group. More than 23,000 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, according to the local Hamas-run government.