Authorities probe local Hamas ties
Greek intelligence and security officials are worried that the recent events in Israel and Gaza might trigger violent events, including terrorist attacks, in the country.
An eight-page classified document shown to Kathimerini describes the activities of four Palestinian organizations in Greece and of seven “persons of interest” with alleged ties to Hamas, which the EU, among others, considers a terrorist organization.
It is true that the locally active Palestinian organizations have done nothing illegal in Greece while supporting the cause of their homeland for over a decade, if not more. The recent protests in front of the Israeli Embassy in Athens, which they helped organize, have not involved violence, in contrast to what happened in several cities around the world. But the social media activity of at least two of them shows approval, even admiration, of Hamas’ murderous incursion into Israel on October 7. And the Palestinian organizations seem closely tied; two of them share the same Athens address. They have also forged ties with local anarchist groups.
Some of the “persons of interest” mentioned in the classified document have been involved in the protests. Others have, in the past, helped with funding Hamas. The document mentions a 2006 case where funds ostensibly collected for a philanthropic cause, helping Palestinian children, ended up in Hamas’ coffers through a tangled web of relatives and NGOs. The mastermind of the operation, a Palestinian aged 50, lived in Greece at the time but now resides in Beirut, the document says.
The most compelling individual case concerns a man currently imprisoned in a Greek island for migrant trafficking. Born in 1995 in Gaza, he has allegedly told people he’s been in contact with that he received weapons training from Hamas in 2013 and that, as recently as 2021, he was the driver of high-ranking Hamas officials.
