Tel Aviv: A former senior official of the Israeli Mossad claims that the Hamas terror organisation has made preparations to perform terror attacks in some European countries and the weapons have been hidden in different places to be used when the order is given.
Oded Ailam, a former head of the Counterterrorism Division in the Mossad is currently a researcher at the Jerusalem Centre for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA).
In a special research published on the centre’s website, Ailam writes that the Hamas terror organisation understood that the war that broke out on October 7, 2023 made it harder to achieve surprise attacks inside the familiar border arena, “so they are seeking other theaters and operating spaces where it is more difficult for Israel and Europe to respond quickly and forcefully.”
The former senior Mossad official writes that this is where a dramatic decision, made already in 2019 in Lebanon, comes into play. It emerged from the school of thought of Hamas operative Salah al-Arouri, who was later killed by Israel. The decision was no longer to limit themselves to terror “within the conflict” in Israel, Judea and Samaria, and Gaza, but rather to develop an external arm aimed at Jewish communities, Israeli targets, and Western symbols, especially in Europe.
According to Ailam, investigations in Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, and other countries, supported by high-quality intelligence provided by the Mossad, revealed a harsh picture. This was not a one-off improvisation, but a patiently built process:
* Light weapons were buried in Bulgaria, Poland, and other countries as early as 2019.
* Operatives received instructions from Lebanon to travel and search for these stockpiles months before, and after, October 7.
* Links were established with European criminal organisations (for example in Denmark) in order to purchase drones intended for attacking the Israeli embassy.
* Weapons were acquired and a “mixed front” of terror and organised crime was formed.
According to the former Mossad official, Hamas headquarters in Lebanon, and later in Turkey, became a hub: recruiting, coordinating, and activating cells across Europe. From a security standpoint this is no longer “assistance from abroad,” but a full-fledged foreign terror infrastructure—with funding, weapons, recruitment, local language skills, and European passports.
“For many years Hamas threatened, but in practice avoided making global terror its signature. October 7 shattered several taboos, including this one. Now, according to Israeli and European security officials, the organisation views attacks abroad as an additional lever of pressure on Israel,” writes Oded Ailam.
-The writer is an Israel-based freelance journalist. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
