Four members of the militant Islamist group Hamas were arrested in Berlin and the Netherlands, German public prosecutors said on Thursday. 

Prosecutors said they were detained on suspicion of planning for attacks on Jewish institutions in Europe, specifically by trying to find and store weapons in Berlin for that purpose.

The men were said to be known members of Hamas with close links to the organization's military branch, one with Dutch nationality, two born in Lebanon and another with Egyptian citizenship. 

"Following the terrible attacks by Hamas on the Israeli population, attacks on Jews in Jewish institutions have also increased in our country in recent weeks," German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann said after the arrests. 

"We must therefore do everything we can to ensure that Jews in our country do not have to fear for their safety again," he said.

What else do we know about the arrests? 

Germany's federal prosecutors' office, based in Karslruhe, said in its statement that the men were in contact "via a close connection" to the "leadership of the military wing of Hamas." 

One of the main charges they face is membership of a terrorist organization. Hamas is listed as a terrorist organization by Germany, Israel, the US, the EU and other governments.

But investigators said their arrest was ultimately tied to a prior Hamas cache of weapons designated for potential future attacks on Jewish institutions in Europe. 

By early 2023 at the latest, one of the men residing in Berlin had been assigned with finding the underground cache and moving the weapons to the Berlin area, prosecutors allege. The three Berlin-based suspects had reportedly since sought to locate the weapons several times, including with help from the man arrested in Rotterdam.

Investigators said they did not believe the plot had a direct connection to Hamas' October 7 attacks or Israel's subsequent response, instead saying their investigations showed the plans preceded these events. 

Investigators in Germany and Europe have been on heightened alert for potential terrorist plots amid the conflict in the Middle East.

Similar arrests in Denmark on Thursday

Earlier on Thursday, Danish police said they prevented a terror attack and arrested four people. Three suspects were arrested in Denmark, and a fourth was arrested in the Netherlands.

msh/lo (dpa, Reuters)