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

Detailed summary

A suspected Hamas terrorist allegedly plotted the massacre of Jews from his home in suburban Britain.

By ANDY DOLAN, MIDLANDS CORRESPONDENT and CHRISTIAN CALGIE, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT-AT-LARGE

Published: 00:04 GMT, 14 November 2026 | Updated: 03:02 GMT, 14 November 2026

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.

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