Former Ismail Haniyeh bodyguard detained over suspected attack preparations — Jerusalem Post

In the United Kingdom, officers of the National Crime Agency detained in central London a former bodyguard of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. He is suspected of planning terrorist attacks against Jewish communities and Israelis in Europe. The man, whose name is prohibited from being disclosed by court order and who is referred to as “Mr X,” may be extradited to Germany, the Jerusalem Post reports, citing a Sunday Times investigation.

Suspicion of planning attacks

According to the publication, the man was part of Haniyeh’s personal security detail in the Gaza Strip and later lived in the United Kingdom for more than ten years. In Germany, he is considered one of the key figures in an alleged plan to attack Jewish community centers, Israeli diplomats and pro-Israel events in Germany or neighboring Austria.

The suspect was detained in November after the alleged plan was uncovered by Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency and German security services, according to the Jerusalem Post. According to an indictment first reported by the German publication Bild, the man transported pistols, ammunition and camouflage equipment from Berlin to Vienna.

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Status in the United Kingdom

According to the Sunday Times, the man arrived in the United Kingdom in 2012 and applied for asylum in 2015. The UK Home Office granted him indefinite leave to remain, and he later obtained British citizenship.

The publication also reports that when the status was granted, British authorities were aware of his work for the Hamas leader and of his previous detention in Egypt in a case involving a tunnel for smuggling weapons into Gaza. A London court initially prohibited the disclosure of his name for 100 years, but after an application by the Sunday Times, the order was amended: his name may be disclosed only after parallel criminal proceedings in the United Kingdom are completed.