A man suspected of links to Hamas allegedly helped plan an attack targeting Jewish people while living in suburban Britain.
German prosecutors accuse Mohammed Alfatih of playing a leading role in a plot aimed at the second anniversary of the October 7 attacks.
The case has raised serious questions about how Alfatih was allowed to remain in the UK. He was granted asylum in 2015 and became a British citizen six years later, despite allegations that he had previously worked as a bodyguard for a senior Hamas figure.
Alfatih, 40, is now fighting extradition after authorities in Berlin alleged that he and others planned to attack synagogues and Jewish facilities in Germany and Austria using automatic weapons. The suspected plot was reportedly disrupted after information was passed to German authorities by Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency.
Before arriving in Britain, Alfatih—who is the son of senior Hamas member Bassem Naim—is said to have served as a bodyguard to then-Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and appeared frequently alongside him in photographs.
He is understood to have entered the UK illegally in 2014, concealed in the back of a lorry. Sources told Our News Outlet that he later claimed persecution in Egypt when applying for asylum.
Former Conservative minister Zac Goldsmith said the circumstances surrounding the case required a detailed investigation.
‘This needs to be forensically examined so we can understand exactly how this and so many similar decisions are made,’ he said.
‘Otherwise it will continue to happen no matter who is in charge. We need to know if this is happening to us because of malignancy in the state, or because of chronic institutional incompetence.’
German authorities accuse Mohammed Alfatih of helping mastermind an alleged plot planned for the second anniversary of October 7
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, surrounded by security personnel and supporters, returns to Gaza City after visiting Arab countries and Iran. Alfatih, identified as his bodyguard, is circled
Emma Schubart, a research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, said the allegations exposed major weaknesses in the UK asylum system.
‘This is a damning indictment of Britain’s asylum system. A former bodyguard to Ismail Haniyeh, the son of a senior Hamas figure, was able to enter the UK, obtain asylum in 2015, gain citizenship, and live openly in Birmingham while allegedly helping prepare a massacre of Jews in Europe,’ she said.
‘The fact that his links [to Hamas] were public knowledge yet he was still granted refuge raises serious questions about basic vetting by the Home Office and security services.
‘Hamas is a proscribed terrorist organisation. Cases like this show that the threat is not confined to Gaza or the Middle East; it is already operating from our own streets.’
German prosecutors have described Alfatih as a ‘high-ranking Hamas foreign operative with direct links to the leadership circle of the Hamas Politburo’.
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According to the indictment against seven other alleged members of the network, all of whom are in the custody of Germany’s federal police, Alfatih collected five firearms at Hasenheide Park in Berlin on July 28 last year.
He allegedly took the weapons to Vienna, where they were hidden in a storage facility with items intended to help conceal the suspects’ identities, including a scarf, hat and gloves.
Prosecutors also allege that Alfatih filmed a confession video for the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing, to be released after the planned attack. In the four-and-a-half-minute recording, a man wearing a red T-shirt and hiding most of his face refers to delivering a ‘message in blood’ to ‘despicable war criminal’ Benjamin Netanyahu, describing the act as revenge for Israel’s alleged ‘genocide’ in Gaza.
The indictment states that British police found the video on a memory card seized from Alfatih. Officers also discovered a red polo shirt in the wardrobe of the Kings Heath, Birmingham, home where he lived with his wife and three children.
Suspected Hamas operative Mohammed Alfatih Naim, also known as Mohammed Naim, is shown attacking Kevin Bucknall on Fairfield Road in Kings Heath, Birmingham
Alfatih, who is expected to face a separate prosecution in Germany from the other seven defendants, allegedly flew back to Berlin before customs officers found a forged Greek identity document and driving licence in his possession. He then returned to the UK.
Arrests began on October 1 last year, after investigators watched other alleged members of the group exchange weapons in a Berlin courtyard. The seized arsenal reportedly included an assault rifle, eight Glock 26 semi-automatic pistols and more than 600 rounds of ammunition.
Investigators believed the group was targeting Israeli diplomats, Jewish community centres and pro-Israel demonstrations. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said it was ‘sick’ that a man accused of planning a massacre of Jews could allegedly operate from a terraced home in Birmingham.
Alfatih was arrested last November under the German extradition warrant while being held on remand over an alleged attack on bailiff Kevin Bucknall outside his Birmingham home. The incident followed a dispute over unpaid parking tickets.
The extradition case was put on hold until the conclusion of the UK trial. Reporting restrictions meant that Alfatih could not be publicly identified during those proceedings.
At an eight-day hearing at Birmingham Crown Court, jurors saw footage showing Alfatih holding a knife and lunging towards the driver’s window of Mr Bucknall’s van. He was convicted of wounding, two charges of possessing a knife unlawfully and criminal damage, but was acquitted of wounding with intent.
Alfatih will be sentenced at a later date. If he receives a prison term, he is expected to serve it in Britain before any possible extradition to Germany, should the UK courts approve the request.
At a hearing in April, prosecutor Matthew Brook KC told the court that Alfatih’s phones contained ‘various Hamas material’. He also said publicly available photographs indicated that the defendant had worked as a bodyguard for the Hamas leader in Gaza.
The court was told that West Midlands Police had questioned Alfatih twice about the alleged Hamas-related material. On both occasions, he reportedly declined to answer questions.
The Home Office said: ‘There can be no place in our society for those who engage in violence or seek to facilitate terrorist attacks against innocent people.
‘Hamas is a proscribed terrorist organisation, and we condemn those who choose to support its activities and further its aims.’
