Although all four denied being members of Hamas, the main defendant admitted to visiting an arms cache in Bulgaria, claiming the trip was part of “private arms dealing.”By Ailin Vilches Arguello, The AlgemeinerFour men were sentenced to prison in Berlin on Wednesday for operating a covert Hamas weapons-stockpiling network across Europe in preparation for potential terrorist attacks — a landmark ruling marking the first time a German court convicted members of the Palestinian terrorist group under the country’s terrorism laws.The Berlin State Protection Senate — a special national-security chamber within the Berlin Court of Appeal — convicted the defendants of stockpiling weapons for future attacks in Europe, including possible targets in Germany, sentencing them to four and a half to six years in prison for membership in a foreign terrorist organization and related charges.The court determined the men, aged 36 to 58, had acted as foreign operatives for Hamas’s military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, and had already helped establish several firearms caches across Europe.According to official records, the defendants helped build weapons depots as part of “preparations to carry out attacks on Jewish and Israeli targets in European countries,” with possible targets including the Israeli Embassy in Berlin, the US Ramstein Air Base in southwestern Germany, and Berlin’s former Tempelhof airport.German authorities also found the stockpiles were meant for attacks on Israeli, Jewish, or other targets across Europe over an extended period, with sites discovered in multiple countries including Poland, Bulgaria, and Denmark.Although all four denied being members of Hamas, the main defendant admitted to visiting an arms cache in Bulgaria, claiming the trip was part of “private arms dealing.”Arrested in December 2023, the four men — all Lebanese-born, including an Egyptian and a Dutch citizen — have been in custody since then, with three having lived primarily in Germany and the fourth in the Netherlands.Hamas, long supported by the Iranian regime as well as Qatar and Turkey, is designated as a terrorist organization by the European Union and several other Western countries, including the United States.However, the terrorist group has not been officially classified as such under German law, making Wednesday’s ruling especially important because it sets a legal precedent allowing membership in the group to be treated as a criminal offense.“It’s a clear and important ruling by the Berlin Court of Appeal, even though we know that it does not in itself reduce the danger of terrorist attacks,” Stephan Weh, Berlin police union chief, said in a statement.“As a Western metropolis, Berlin remains a focal point for radical Islamist networks, which today primarily recruit new members and supporters via social media,” he continued.In recent months, German authorities have arrested several more suspects tied to alleged Hamas arms-procurement efforts, with the weapons said to be intended for attacks on Israeli or Jewish sites in Germany and across Europe.In November, federal prosecutors uncovered and arrested a suspected Hamas terrorist cell with at least five members accused of plotting attacks on Israeli or Jewish targets.Hamas has repeatedly denied any connection to these criminal networks, calling the allegations of its involvement “baseless.”However, experts have warned that the group has expanded its terrorist operations beyond the Middle East, exploiting a well-established network of weapons caches, criminal alliances, and covert infrastructure quietly built across Europe over the years.Last year, West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center released a study detailing how Hamas leaders in Lebanon have been directing operatives to establish “foreign operator’ cells across Europe, collaborating with organized crime networks to acquire weapons and target Jewish communities abroad.The post Berlin Court jails 4 men in landmark Hamas weapons case, first German ruling treating membership as terror offense appeared first on World Israel News.