Hamas Planned Attacks in Europe, Son of Official Threatened "Blood Will Be Spilled"

A new investigation by Germany's Der Spiegel and Austria's Der Standard has revealed details of a Hamas terror network that was preparing to carry out attacks against Jewish and Israeli targets in Europe around the second anniversary of the October 7th massacre. Planned targets included the Jewish Museum and the Austrian-Israeli Society in Vienna. Basem Naim, a member of Hamas's political bureau and former health minister for the organization in Gaza, reportedly held discussions with his son, Mohammed Naim, about the attack plans in Austria and Germany. The two also exchanged messages on Telegram regarding a ceasefire with Israel and U.S. policy, even as Naim publicly condemned attacks against Jews in Europe and the United States.

A key finding of the investigation is a video recorded by Mohammed Naim in Vienna in August 2025. In the four-minute video, he appears masked, with two handguns in front of him, threatening that "blood will be spilled" and promising to send a "bloody message" to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Investigators found traces of his fingerprints on seized weapons, suggesting the handguns in the video were part of a weapons shipment intended for attacks.

Authorities discovered that five handguns were hidden for weeks in a rented storage unit in Vienna's seventh district, near Jewish and Israeli institutions and major transport routes. The weapons were concealed in a suitcase lined with aluminum foil, alongside cleaning and oiling materials. Investigators believe this indicated the weapons were prepared for operational use, not just as an emergency cache.

In June 2025, Israel's Mossad reportedly shared information with Germany's domestic security service (Verfassungsschutz) about suspects involved in arms deals. This led German authorities to monitor network members as they moved between European countries, acquiring weapons and ammunition. According to the indictment in Germany, the network members obtained 13 handguns, an automatic assault rifle, and 718 rounds of ammunition. Some weapons were smuggled from Denmark to Berlin, then transferred to Mohammed Naim, and transported by train to Vienna. Additional weapons suspected of being intended for further attacks were also seized.

On October 1st, 2025, shortly before the anniversary of the October 7th massacre, German police arrested three suspects during a weapons transfer. Further arrests of suspects occurred in various European countries, bringing the total to nine individuals, seven of whom are awaiting trial in Berlin. European security officials view this case as a significant shift in Hamas's operational methods in Europe, moving from primarily fundraising and logistics to establishing operational infrastructures, including weapons, cells, and attack plans against Jewish, Israeli, and pro-Israeli targets across the continent.