Hamas Operative Granted UK Citizenship While Plotting Terror Attacks

A former bodyguard of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh received political asylum and British citizenship in the UK while secretly planning a large-scale terror attack against Jewish and Israeli targets in Europe, according to a report by the British newspaper The Sunday Times. The operative, identified only as "X" due to legal restrictions, is the son of a senior Hamas official. He served in Haniyeh's security detail starting in 2006, following Hamas's electoral victory in Gaza. After being detained in Egypt between 2009 and 2012 for alleged involvement in smuggling tunnels, he left Gaza in 2012. Despite his known Hamas background and criminal history, he was granted refugee status in the UK in 2015 and later obtained full British citizenship, settling there with his family.

The terror plot was thwarted in November following intelligence shared by Israel's Mossad and German intelligence services. "X" was reportedly planning attacks on Jewish community centers, Israeli diplomats, and pro-Israel events in Germany or Austria, timed for the second anniversary of the October 7th attacks. A joint operation involving security agencies from the UK, Germany, Austria, and Denmark led to the arrest of seven suspects and the seizure of weapons, including an AK-47, handguns, and ammunition.

Court documents obtained by the German newspaper Bild reveal that "X" personally transported five handguns, ammunition, and equipment from Berlin to a storage facility in Vienna in July 2025. He and his accomplices subsequently acquired dozens more handguns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. He also recorded a video, masked and armed beside a Hamas flag, describing the planned attack as an act of revenge for the organization's military wing.

If convicted in the UK, "X" faces imprisonment there before potential extradition to Germany, where he faces serious charges for weapons and terrorism offenses.