Four suspected members of the Palestinian militant group Hamas are to go on trial in Berlin on Tuesday.
The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office accuses them of membership of a foreign terrorist organization.
As so-called foreign operatives, they are alleged to have been responsible for the creation or dissolution of weapons depots in several European countries.
The defendants, aged between 34 and 57, have been in custody since December 2023. They were arrested in Berlin and the Netherlands.
According to a spokeswoman, special security precautions are in place for the trial at the top criminal court in Berlin, the Kammergericht.
Presiding judge Doris Husch has scheduled the first witnesses for the second day of the trial on March 5.
The prosecution has listed a total of around 50 witnesses and several expert witnesses, with dates scheduled to last until December.
According to earlier statements by federal prosecutors, the suspects held “important positions within Hamas with direct links to leaders of the military wing.”
Investigators accuse Hamas of having stockpiled weapons in underground depots in readiness for possible attacks against Israeli, Jewish or other organizations in Europe.
Hamas’ declared aim is the destruction of the state of Israel and the establishment of an Islamic regime in the Palestinian territories.
The militia is responsible for the terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 people were taken hostage.
The unprecedented attack triggered the war in Gaza.
