“Continued intelligence gathering efforts have uncovered significant information proving that the terrorist organization Hamas has taken steps to expand its violent activity abroad to attack innocents around the world,” the agency said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Saturday evening.
Israel said it had gathered evidence of this on its own and in cooperation with foreign intelligence services. The report could not immediately be independently verified.
Hamas also wanted to purchase drones and recruit members of crime gangs in Europe, according to the statement from the Prime Minister’s Office. Hamas executives in Lebanon are said to have been involved in the plans. Some of them have since been killed in Israeli attacks.
So far, Hamas has not committed any known terrorist attacks in Europe. The Palestinian movement is considered a terrorist organization by the European Union and the United States.
“No concrete indications”
There are currently “no concrete indications that Hamas is targeting our country.” “But we are alert and following it closely.” Minister of Justice Paul Van Tigchelt said this on Sunday in Het Nieuws at VTM. The Open VLD minister is responding to the report that, according to the Israeli government, Hamas is making plans for terrorist attacks on targets in Europe.
According to Minister of Justice Van Tigchelt, our security services currently have “no concrete indications of Hamas attack plans” in our country. But according to the Liberal minister, the services remain alert. He does not only refer to the incident with the Flixbus earlier this week.
“But on Friday evening we received information about a man in Antwerp who wanted to attack Jewish institutions. Nothing is left to chance. They intervened on Saturday morning and the man was arrested and detained. In this way we try to neutralize the threats that manifest themselves,” says Van Tigchelt.
The Antwerp public prosecutor’s office confirmed on Sunday afternoon that a 19-year-old man was arrested for possibly attempting to commit an attack in Antwerp’s Jewish neighborhood. The man was arrested on suspicion of preparing to commit a terrorist attack and prohibited possession of weapons. He will appear before the council chamber next week, which will decide on his further detention.
“No one will stop us”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also warned on Saturday that “no one” will stop his country in the war in the Gaza Strip that broke out on October 7 after a bloody attack by Hamas.
It is important to remember that we are fighting a war that is more lawful than any other war, a war instigated by a bloodthirsty enemy who has inhumanely slaughtered innocents
Herzi Halevi
Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army
“No one will stop us, not The Hague, not the Axis of Evil and not anyone else,” he said at a press conference in Tel Aviv. He was referring to the case that South Africa filed with the International Court of Justice in which Israel is accused of genocide in Gaza.
Netanyahu assured that most of Hamas’s battalions have already been eliminated in military operations in the Palestinian territory controlled by the Islamist movement.
Regarding the Palestinians who had to flee the fighting – about 1.9 million people out of about 2.4 million Gazans – the prime minister said that “there is an international law and it says something simple: you move a population and leave not return to her as long as the danger exists. And the danger exists.”
The Israeli army’s chief of staff said on Saturday that Israel is waging a legitimate war against Hamas for its own security, and that “the war will last a long time.” “It is important to remember that we are fighting a war that is more lawful than any other war, a war provoked by a bloodthirsty enemy who has inhumanely slaughtered innocents. We do not forget, we will not forget and we will continue to remember,” said Herzi Halevi.
Thousands of protesters demand Netanyahu’s resignation
Thousands of people demonstrated in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv on Saturday evening, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Netanyahu. The demonstrators accuse the government of not doing enough to allow the Israeli hostages to come home, Israeli media report.
Sunday will mark 100 days since the war between Israel and Hamas began. In a surprise attack, Hamas terrorists killed about 1,200 people on Israeli soil and kidnapped about 250. Netanyahu’s popularity has taken a hit since the war broke out, according to polls.
People also took to the streets in other Israeli cities on Saturday evening to demonstrate against the prime minister. According to Israeli media, about 1,000 people demonstrated in the coastal cities of Haifa and Caesarea.