CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler writes: "For far too long, European governments have comforted themselves with the assumption that Hamas terror attacks would remain confined towards targets in Israel and the Palestinian territories. The prevailing belief was that in Europe the group would concentrate on generating finances and building up political influence through catering towards its sympathisers.

European authorities were always clear about the general terrorist nature of Hamas. After all, the group’s Izz al-Din al-Qassem (IDQ) brigades was added to the EU Terrorist List in 2001, the year the list was created. The entire organisation was listed by the EU in 2003. The UK proscribed IDQ in 2001, but it took until 2021 for the British government to proscribe the entirety of Hamas. Nevertheless, the hope was that Europe may be spared from direct terror attacks by Hamas."

What's more, it is becoming increasingly well organized—even across national borders, according to extremism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler, director of the Counter Extremism Project in Berlin. “In the German milieu, we repeatedly observe close ties to right-wing extremist milieus abroad, particularly in Austria and Switzerland, but also in Eastern European countries,” Schindler said in an interview with Ippen.Media's Frankfurter Rundschau.

What's more, it is becoming increasingly well organized—even across national borders, according to extremism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler, director of the Counter Extremism Project in Berlin. “In the German milieu, we repeatedly observe close ties to right-wing extremist milieus abroad, particularly in Austria and Switzerland, but also in Eastern European countries,” Schindler said in an interview with Ippen.Media's Frankfurter Rundschau.

What's more, it is becoming increasingly well organized—even across national borders, according to extremism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler, director of the Counter Extremism Project in Berlin. “In the German milieu, we repeatedly observe close ties to right-wing extremist milieus abroad, particularly in Austria and Switzerland, but also in Eastern European countries,” Schindler said in an interview with Ippen.Media's Frankfurter Rundschau.

What's more, it is becoming increasingly well organized—even across national borders, according to extremism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler, director of the Counter Extremism Project in Berlin. “In the German milieu, we repeatedly observe close ties to right-wing extremist milieus abroad, particularly in Austria and Switzerland, but also in Eastern European countries,” Schindler said in an interview with Ippen.Media's Frankfurter Rundschau.

“This cell was particularly serious,” said Joshua Fisher-Birch, a terrorism researcher at the Counter Extremism Project who keeps tabs on the digital accounts of the Base. “It should be noted that the group’s cell in Spain had its own public Telegram channel, which is unusual, where they repeatedly called on others to join the group, shared photos of weapons training and urged militant action.”

On this week’s episode of “The Hunt with WTOP National Security Correspondent J.J. Green,” Dr. Hans Jakob-Schindler, senior director at the Counter Extremism Project, says this case carries the hallmarks of a terror plot.

CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler interviewed regarding Germany’s defense against drones.  [Starting at 16:24]

CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler writes: “The Muslim Brotherhood has always been exceptionally difficult to counter in the West. While there’s a clear track record of individuals connected to the Brotherhood’s network who later appeared in Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations, the group has been strategically careful never to explicitly promote or call for violence in Western countries. This created a significant challenge: the relationship between the Muslim Brotherhood and direct violence has always been tactical and geographically limited. The organization has used violence in Türkiye, Syria, and Egypt, but deliberately avoided it in Europe and North America, allowing it to claim protection under freedom of religion and speech.”

The Counter Extremism Project, an association focused on extremist groups, said Nazzaro worked for the US Department of Homeland Security between 2004 and 2006, and reportedly with US forces in the Middle East on counterterrorism, a role that gave him top-secret clearance. Nazzaro resigned his US national security position after developing his white nationalist beliefs, the Counter Extremism Project said.