The embassy is the only object that the office mentioned by name in the announcement. According to Hamas, Israel is trying to scare the Europeans with its claims.
“They are trying to cover up their attack on the Gaza Strip.”
Mixed Statements by Israel and Hamas regarding the extremist organization's plans to attack the embassy in Stockholm should be treated with healthy skepticism, says a professor of Middle Eastern studies Hannu Juusola.
“It is clear that Israel's interest and aspiration is to present Hamas as a representative of international terrorism. At the same time, it is not in Hamas's interest to be associated with this type of activity, and in that sense, their statements should also be approached very cautiously,” Juusola tells STT.
Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu the Chancellery said on Saturday evening that Hamas has planned an attack on the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm. The chancellery told about it message service in X.
According to it, Hamas would have planned attacks on targets in the Middle East, Africa and Europe under the organization's leaders. The information was said to be based on intelligence and cross-border cooperation.
The Israeli Embassy in Stockholm was the only destination that the Chancellery mentioned by name in the announcement.
The Chancellery also published a photo of Hamas leaders and their subordinates. One of those mentioned is a man whose office has been linked to Sweden.
“Hamas is inspired by the terrorist activities of the Iranian regime and, like it, aims to attack Israeli, Jewish and Western targets at any cost,” the chancellery said in X.
It mentioned in its publication, the arrests made by the Danish and German authorities in December. Swedish public broadcasting company SVT says that seven people are being investigated in Denmark for suspected terrorist plots, which, according to the news agency TT, are connected to Hamas.
SVT asked the Swedish Security Police (Säpo) about the plan targeting the Israeli embassy in Stockholm. Säpo did not comment on the matter but directed the media to the statements of the Danish security police.
Säpo's spokesman Fredrik Hultgren-Friberg a Swedish newspaper commented on the matter in detail For Expressen. He said he could not say much about “what information we share or what interaction we have with other security services”.
Hultgren-Friberg did not comment on whether Säpo has received information about the threats against the Israeli embassy. In general, however, he stated that Säpo knows that there are people in Sweden who sympathize with Hamas.
“It can be about funding, spreading propaganda and this kind of activity,” he described.
Hamas denied Israel's claims In an interview with the Norwegian public broadcasting company NRK.
“This is a lie. Hamas has never carried out operations outside of Palestine,” stated the representative of Hamas in Lebanon Walid Kilany for NRK.
According to him, Israel is trying to scare Europeans with accusations.
“They are trying to cover up their attack on the Gaza Strip.”
Israeli newspaper Times of Israel according to the Israeli intelligence services Mossad and Shin Bet have informed about Hamas' plans. It was reported earlier Over. According to the information, the arrested had planned attacks, the targets of which would have been Sweden, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands.
Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip in a photo provided by the Israeli Armed Forces on Sunday.
Middle East expert Aron Lund told Sweden's TT that he would be surprised if Hamas actually planned the attacks. On the other hand, according to him, Hamas' attack on Israel and Israel's attacks on Gaza could have changed the situation.
“What was true before October 7th may not be true anymore,” Lund stated.
For example, a Swedish newspaper Göteborgs-Posten has written that according to Israeli information, Hamas would have sought to acquire airplanes for the Stockholm attack. According to TT, airplanes have not been used in attacks aimed at Europe before.
This is also the first time Hamas members have been arrested for planning attacks in Europe, said a Swedish expert on Israel and Palestine Anders Persson for TT.
He said that he takes the information about the plans seriously.
“In the worst case, the plans could mean a new phase in Europe's fight against terrorism.”
#Gaza #War #Hamas #denies #Israel39s #claim #plot #attack #Israeli #embassy #Stockholm
