European authorities say they have prevented several terror plots from unfolding, some of which involved suspects pretending to be refugees, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Two separate groups of Afghan and Syrian refugees carrying guns and ammunition, including Kalashnikov rifles, were arrested by police in Austria and Bosnia in a previously unreported investigation in December.
Photos of Jewish and Israeli targets in Europe were discovered on some of the suspects' cell phones, which investigators told the Journal indicated they were motivated by the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
Also late last year, a group of Tajik nationals was arrested for allegedly planning attacks on the Cologne Cathedral in Germany and St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna around Christmas. Hundreds of people visit both churches during the holiday season.
On Monday, Italian authorities announced they had arrested three Palestinians who were suspected members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, a designated terror group in the U.S. and European Union (EU). The Italian National Police reportedly said the suspects were planning to attack civilian and military targets in Europe.
The string of incidents suggests that the terror threat in Europe isn't just growing, investigators said, but is also coming from new sources. According to the Journal, the Sunni terror militia in Syria and Iraq known as Islamic State inspired and partly directed the wave of European attacks beginning in 2015. Today, the threat is coming from Iran and its Middle Eastern proxies, including Hamas and Hezbollah, as well as Islamic State Khorasan, Islamic State's Afghanistan-based successor.
Late last year, Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, warned that Jews and Jewish organizations across Europe were among the potential targets of terror groups that were being spurred by the Gazan war.
According to the Journal, German police targeted Hamas and its affiliates in raids across the country at the end of last year. Four people, all longstanding Hamas members, were reportedly arrested by German and Dutch investigators for allegedly receiving a Hamas directive to open a secret weapons cache and attack Jewish targets.
The weapons had been buried underground in Europe years ago, German prosecutors said, but the suspects would not reveal the location of the cache.
German security officials told the Journal that the war in Gaza has been used by Hamas, Hezbollah, and their affiliates for propaganda, recruitment, and fundraising, with donations from Europeans to the terror groups skyrocketing since Hamas' brutal Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
The groups' online activities have also increased and they have encouraged protests against Israel's war on Hamas throughout the EU.
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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