Europe turning blind eye to Hamas and Hezbollah networks in its territory, experts say

A stash of weapons was found hidden under a pine tree in southern Bulgaria last week. The arms were linked to four suspected Hamas members arrested in Germany and the Netherlands in December on suspicion of preparing an attack against Jewish targets in Europe, according to the German magazine Der Spiegel.

During the same month, seven people with links to Hamas were arrested in Denmark on similar charges.

The arrests shone a light on the oft-overlooked activities of anti-Israeli jihadi terror groups in Europe and raised questions about their networks of influence and operations in the West.

“Hamas has been in Europe for about 30 years. It’s an open secret,” said Lorenzo Vidino, director of the program on extremism at George Washington University. “But investigations have been, for the most part, unsuccessful.”

The prosecution of top Hamas figures has been a “complete disaster,” the researcher commented, as European countries have preferred to allocate their limited resources to what they perceive to be more direct security threats. READ MORE