BERLIN (Reuters) -A judge in Germany ordered into pretrial detention three men suspected by prosecutors of being members of the Palestinian militant group Hamas and preparing attacks on Jewish targets in Germany, prosecutors said on Thursday.
Prosecutors said they suspect the three men of being foreign operatives for Hamas and of being involved in procuring firearms and ammunition to be used for attacks on Israeli or Jewish institutions.
The men were arrested on Wednesday at a time of heightened security around Jewish buildings, a week before the second anniversary of the militant Islamist group’s attack on Israel.
In Britain, two people were killed on Thursday in an attack at a synagogue in the city of Manchester by an assailant who was later shot dead by law enforcement personnel, the police said.
Hamas on Wednesday denied links to the three suspects in Germany, calling the allegations unfounded and saying its struggle is “confined to opposing Israeli occupation in Palestine.”
“(The men) were brought before the investigating judge of the Federal Court of Justice who issued arrest warrants and ordered their remand in custody,” said the prosecutor’s office.
The three, identified in line with German privacy laws only as German citizen Abed Al G., Wael F. M., born in Lebanon, and German citizen Ahmad I., were arrested in Berlin.
Anti-terrorism investigators had been watching the suspects and at a weapons handover discovered arms, including an AK-47 assault rifle, a Glock pistol and large amounts of ammunition, the prosecutor’s office said.
Hamas, which has been running Gaza and is backed by Iran, is designated as a terrorist organization by the European Union and other countries including the United States.
(Writing by Madeline Chambers; Editing by Sergio Non)
