Suspected Hamas terrorist allegedly plotted massacres on Jews in Europe from terraced home in Birmingham

A suspected Hamas terrorist and former bodyguard allegedly helped to plot a massacre on the continent while living in plain sight in a suburban British street.Father-of-four Mohammed Alfatih Naim, also known as Mohammed Alfatih, was granted asylum by Britain over a decade ago and has been living in a quiet cul-de-sac with his wife and three of his children. Alfatih, the son of a senior official in the Palestinian terror group, is accused by Germany of transporting handguns and ammunition from Berlin to a storage facility in Vienna as part of a network of at least eight Hamas operatives.Before moving to the UK more than a decade ago, Alfatih acted as a bodyguard for then-Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and was regularly pictured by his side.Alfatih is now set to face extradition proceedings to Germany, where he is suspected of playing a leading role in a plot to attack Jewish or Israeli targets to coincide with the second anniversary of the October 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel.The alleged terror plot suggests that Hamas – which has been severely weakened by Israeli operations in Gaza – could be changing its strategy in Europe from an emphasis on fundraising, propaganda and logistical activity to active operations. Alfatih's arrest last autumn can be revealed after he was today convicted over a non-terrorst-related attack outside his terraced home on a visiting bailiff.Alfatih is believed to be the only person based in Britain to have allegedly participated in Hamas terror operations. Mohammed Alfatih is accused of transporting weapons including handguns and ammunition from Berlin to a storage facility in Vienna Mohammed Alfatih, second from right, pictured in Gaza in 2006 when he was a bodyguard to then Hamas leader Ismail HaniyehThe IT consultant is thought to have entered Britain illegally. He was granted asylum by the UK in 2015 after citing persecution by Egypt, according to an Israeli government source.But by then, his earlier work in Haniyeh's personal security team was public knowledge, while an arrest in Egypt for operating a tunnel allegedly used to smuggle gold into Gaza had also been publicised in the Middle East. The case raises questions for the government and security services over how Alfatih – who told jurors that he was granted citizenship in the UK six years ago – was able to settle and build a life in Britain despite his links to Hamas. German prosecutors allege Alfatih pre-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 video he appeared masked and armed in front of a Hamas flag, and during a four-and-a-half minute monologue promised ‘revenge’ for Israel’s ‘genocide’ in Gaza, according to German media reports.An indictment prepared in Berlin reveals that British police recovered the video on an SD card seized from Alfatih, and that a red polo shirt was also uncovered in his wardrobe at his home in the trendy Kings Heath suburb of Birmingham. The legal paperwork said the shirt ‘appears to be the same shirt worn by the speaker in the claim-of-responsibility video'.The indictment, prepared for a prosecution of seven other alleged members of the Hamas network who are already in German custody, details how Alfatih served in Haniyeh's personal security team around 2006, 'and thus held a position of special trust directly within the top leadership'.Alfatih is also the son of senior Hamas member Bassem Naim, a health minister in Gaza under the first Hamas-led government and a high-level member of the proscribed terror group's decision-making Politburo since 2020. Bodyguard Alfatih, on the left, beside Haniyeh in February 2007 in Gaza An earlier Birmingham court hearing was told Alfatih was awaiting extradition to Germany 'on allegations made under German law of terrorism offences linked to Hamas' in the country.The seven others arrested alongside Alfatih include two German citizens, a Dane, a Bulgarian and three Lebanese.German prosecutors accuse them of being members of Hamas and of preparing an attack.The German indictment against the seven, first reported by Die Welt, details how Alfatih is alleged to have received a consignment of five firearms in a handover at Berlin’s Hasenheide park on July 28 last year.On August 1 it is then alleged that he ‘transported’ the weapons to Vienna, where ‘he kept the functioning firearms, together with magazines and 'disguise materials’ including a scarf, hat and gloves in a storage unit.On August 25, Alfatih, 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, the indictment said.That evening, investigators believe Alfatih met an alleged Hamas operative in Berlin to receive a consignment of ammunition in readiness for the planned attack.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. Alfatih (pictured) claimed he was acting in self-defence when he attacked bailiff Kevin Bucknall.The arsenal included a fully automatic 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.In late July and August last year prosecutors allege Alfatih was in contact with his father. In a WhatsApp exchange between them from July 29 Alfatih reportedly said that everything was well but they needed prayers.The indictment notes that his father had been on the United States sanctions list since November 2024 'for supporting terrorism’ and suggests that Alfatih had advised him on American politics and Hamas ceasefire negotiations with Israel in August and September 2025.The indictment cites intelligence indicating that Alfatih worked as a personal bodyguard for Haniyeh ‘before and around 2006’, and 'thus held a position of special trust' with senior leadership. Some of the weapons seized by the European intelligence and law enforcement agencies last autumnGerman prosecutors argue that Alfatih was a 'high ranking Hamas foreign operative with direct links to the leadership circle of the Hamas Politburo, who was directly involved in the weapons and ammunition transfer at issue'. After claiming asylum in Britain in 2015, Alfatih went on to set up two IT businesses in Birmingham and lived an apparently normal life, even leaving positive reviews on Google for businesses near his home.Alfatih’s eight-day trial at Birmingham Crown Court heard how debt enforcement officer Kevin Bucknall suffered a 1-2cm cut to the head when he was stabbed through his car window, having been chased from the defendant's two-bedroom home on October 14 last year.Alfatih, 40, who told the court he was born in Germany but grew up in Gaza and arrived in the UK in 2014, was convicted of wounding, two counts of having a bladed article and criminal damage. He was cleared of wounding with intent. The defendant is due to be sentenced at a later date. He is expected to serve any custodial sentence in the UK before facing extradition to Germany.The bailiff went to the address to recover property to pay a debt which accrued when Alfatih's wife failed to pay parking fines.Footage of the confrontation between Alfatih and the bailiff in the street outside his home was played in court.Jurors were also shown footage from Mr Bucknall's bodycam of the two men scuffling in the property as Alfatih's wife and child screamed in the background.Prosecutor Matthew Brook KC said that after Mr Bucknall retreated to his van, Alfatih went towards him with two kitchen knives and a rock, which he used to smash the driver's window before lunging at Mr Bucknall with one of the knives.No mention was made of Alfatih's status as a terror suspect during the trial.But a previous court hearing was told the defendant was awaiting extradition to Germany 'on allegations made under German law of terrorism offences linked to Hamas' in the country.Alfatih told the jury last week he had been raised in Gaza, where he said he was twice shot in the leg by Israeli soldiers while 'under occupation', aged 16 and 20.He said the first shooting happened in 2003 as he walked to school with his older brother, who died in the attack.Asked what the impact of his upbringing in Gaza had been on him, he said: 'Every incident you have in your life leaves a dent in your soul.'Your way of looking to the light becomes completely different… it severely influences your character.'He told the court that two days before the attack on Mr Bucknall, he found out his youngest brother had been shot in the head in Gaza, and was informed he had died 24 hours later.But the German indictment said that his brother died as 'a Hamas fighter’.Alfatih told jurors he moved from Gaza to Egypt to study, but was kidnapped and tortured for 25 days during the final months of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak's regime in 2010.The defendant claimed he was acting in self-defence when he attacked Mr Bucknall.'I did not put hands on him,' he told jurors. 'I was dealing with my brother just dying, and now I'm dealing with a man in my house choking me… I was trying to defend my family, I had no intention for one second to harm anyone.'Alfatih was arrested in connection with the German extradition warrant last November, while on remand for the Birmingham incident.Extradition proceedings were stayed pending the conclusion of the Birmingham trial, which was subject to reporting restrictions preventing Alfatih from being identified until the end of the case.Defence witness Dr Mehdi Veisi, a consultant forensic psychiatrist, told jurors 'pleasant' Alfatih was suffering from PTSD, and regularly experienced 'frequent nightmares, a sense of impending disaster relating to his family, and did not sleep for days' as a result of his life experiences.Dr Veisi said his brother's death two days before the bailiff incident 'kick-started' his traumatic memories.But during a pre-trial hearing in April, Mr Brook submitted that the psychiatrist 'had not been given the full picture' about Alfatih's background and revealed his phones contained 'various Hamas material'.He said open source pictures showed 'that the defendant was a Hamas bodyguard in Gaza for the then-leader of Hamas'.Dr John Tully, a consultant psychiatrist for the prosecution, told the court this week that he did not believe Alfatih had PTSD.He said: 'The idea that for 11 years he was going about a relatively normal life, working, having a family...(that) it would all come flooding back in one go because of an isolated incident with a parking warden, I have difficulty with.'Hamas's attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, killed around 1,200 people and saw more than 250 taken hostage.Israel's spy agency, Mossad, said previously that its investigation alongside European counterparts resulted in the arrest of members of a Hamas sleeper cell and weapons stockpiles 'intended for use by Hamas cells to harm innocent civilians on command'.Following the arrests in Germany last autumn, Israel described the alleged terror network as the 'Hamas Octopus'. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said European law enforcement had conducted a 'series of complex counter-terrorism operations' which led to the discovery of 'weapons caches intended for use by terrorist cells to harm innocent people’.Austria's state intelligence agency DSN seized an arms cache in Vienna after probing 'a globally active terrorist organisation with close ties' to Hamas, the country's interior ministry said in a statement.Images online show Alfatih as a bodyguard accompanying Haniyeh, who spent almost a decade in charge of the Hamas-led administration of the Gaza Strip, until he was selected to replace Khaled Meshaal as the terror group's political bureau chief in 2017.Haniyeh was assassinated by Israel while visiting the Iranian capital Tehran in 2024.A Home Office spokesman said: 'While we do not routinely comment on individual cases or operational matters, we take all steps necessary at all times to protect the nation's security.'Additional reporting by Kristina Wemyss in Berlin, Rob Hyde in Bremen and Natalie Lisbona in Jerusalem