Bodyguard of Hamas leader was given UK citizenship: Father of four is accused of plotting a massacre of European Jews from his Birmingham terraced home

A suspected Hamas terrorist allegedly plotted the massacre of Jews from his home in suburban Britain.Mohammed Alfatih is accused by German authorities of being the mastermind behind a plot to strike on the second anniversary of October 7.In a case that raises questions for officials, Alfatih was granted asylum in 2015 and obtained citizenship six years later – leaving him free to build a life here despite previously acting as a bodyguard for a Hamas leader.Alfatih, 40, faces an extradition battle after prosecutors in Berlin accused the Birmingham-based IT consultant and others of planning to attack synagogues and other Jewish centres in Germany and Austria with automatic weapons. The plot was foiled thanks to a tip-off from Israel’s Mossad spy agency.Before moving to the UK, Alfatih, the son of senior Hamas member Bassem Naim, acted as a bodyguard for then-Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and was regularly pictured by his side.He is understood to have entered Britain in 2014 illegally, in the back of a lorry, and sources told the Daily Mail he was granted asylum after citing persecution from Egypt.Former Conservative minister Zac Goldsmith said last night: ‘This needs to be forensically examined so we can understand exactly how this and so many similar decisions are made.‘Otherwise it will continue to happen no matter who is in charge. We need to know if this is happening to us because of malignancy in the state, or because of chronic institutional incompetence.’ Mohammed Alfatih is accused by German authorities of being the mastermind behind a plot to strike on the second anniversary of October 7 Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya surrounded by security and supporters arrives back home in Gaza City following a tour of Arab countries and Iran. Circled is bodyguard AlfatihEmma Schubart, research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, added: ‘This is a damning indictment of Britain’s asylum system. A former bodyguard to Ismail Haniyeh, the son of a senior Hamas figure, was able to enter the UK, obtain asylum in 2015, gain citizenship, and live openly in Birmingham while allegedly helping prepare a massacre of Jews in Europe.‘The fact that his links [to Hamas] were public knowledge yet he was still granted refuge raises serious questions about basic vetting by the Home Office and security services.‘Hamas is a proscribed terrorist organisation. Cases like this show that the threat is not confined to Gaza or the Middle East; it is already operating from our own streets.’German prosecutors say Alfatih was a ‘high-ranking Hamas foreign operative with direct links to the leadership circle of the Hamas Politburo’.The German indictment against seven other alleged members of the network, who are already in the custody of the Bundespolizei, claims Alfatih received a consignment of five guns at Berlin’s Hasenheide Park on July 28 last year.He is accused of transporting the weapons to Vienna, stashing the firearms alongside ‘disguise materials, including a scarf, hat and gloves’ in a storage unit.German prosecutors allege Alfatih recorded a ‘confession video’ on behalf of the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades – Hamas’s military wing – which was intended to be published after the attack. In the four-and-a-half minutes of footage, a figure in a red T-shirt with his features largely covered warns of sending a ‘message in blood’ to the ‘despicable war criminal’ Benjamin Netanyahu as ‘revenge’ for Israel’s ‘genocide’ in Gaza.The indictment claims that British police recovered the video on a computer memory card seized from Alfatih, and that a red polo shirt was found in his wardrobe at the home in Kings Heath, Birmingham, where he lived with his wife and three of his children. Suspected Hamas terrorist Mohammed Alfatih Naim, also known as Mohammed Naim, attacking Kevin Bucknall in Fairfield Road, Kings Heath, BirminghamAlfatih, who is due to be prosecuted in Germany separately from the other seven, allegedly flew back into Berlin, when a customs check detected a forged Greek identity document and driving licence in his possession, before he returned to Britain.Investigators began making arrests on October 1 last year, when they observed a weapons handover involving other members of the alleged cell in a Berlin courtyard. The arsenal included an assault rifle, eight Glock 26 semi-automatic pistols and more than 600 rounds of live ammunition.The cell’s primary targets were thought to be Israeli diplomats, Jewish community centres and pro-Israel demonstrations. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: ‘It is sick that a man accused of plotting to massacre Jews could do it from a terraced house in Birmingham.’Alfatih was arrested in connection with the German extradition warrant last November, while on remand for an attack on a bailiff, Kevin Bucknall, outside his Birmingham home in a row over unpaid parking tickets.Extradition proceedings were paused pending the conclusion of the trial, which was subject to reporting restrictions preventing Alfatih from being identified until the end of the case.During an eight-day trial at Birmingham Crown Court, jurors were shown footage of Alfatih, armed with a knife, lunging at the driver’s window of Mr Bucknall’s van. Alfatih was found guilty of wounding, two counts of unlawful possession of a knife and criminal damage. He was cleared of wounding with intent.He is due to be sentenced at a later date. Alfatih is expected to serve any custodial sentence in the UK before any extradition to Germany, should the UK courts agree he can be sent back.During a hearing in April, prosecutor Matthew Brook KC said Alfatih’s phones contained ‘various Hamas material’, and open-source pictures showed ‘that the defendant was a Hamas bodyguard in Gaza for the then-leader of Hamas’.The court heard Alfatih had twice been interviewed by West Midlands Police about the ‘Hamas material’ and chose to make no comment on both occasions.The Home Office said: ‘There can be no place in our society for those who engage in violence or seek to facilitate terrorist attacks against innocent people.‘Hamas is a proscribed terrorist organisation, and we condemn those who choose to support its activities and further its aims.’