“High risk relevance”
Gaza war: BKA counts 2,600 political crimes in Germany
December 24, 2023, 8:32 a.m
According to the Federal Criminal Police Office, the security situation in Germany has deteriorated since the beginning of the war between Israel and the terrorist organization Hamas. Hundreds of politically motivated crimes have already been registered. And there will probably be more to come.
The Federal Criminal Police Office has so far registered around 2,600 politically motivated crimes related to the Gaza war across Germany. Of these, more than 1,100 crimes were classified as anti-Semitic, as the BKA told the newspapers of the Funke media group. It is therefore primarily about damage to property and incitement to hatred.
Islamophobic crimes related to the war between Israel and the Islamist, terrorist Palestinian organization Hamas have been reported to the BKA since October 7th in the mid double-digit range. According to the police, the majority of these cases also involved damage to property and crimes of incitement to hatred. The number of cases of politically motivated crime is reported to the BKA by the police authorities in the federal states via the criminal police reporting service.
The developments in Israel are likely to “develop a high threat relevance to the security situation in Germany,” the BKA explained to the Funke newspapers with a view to the threat situation before the holidays. In the course of this conflict, but especially if the situation worsens, “individuals in Germany and Europe in particular could see the development as a trigger for action and a subjectively perceived encouragement for an attack.”
Most recently, security measures were increased at Cologne Cathedral due to indications of a possible attack plan by an Islamist group. Police officers searched the cathedral with sniffer dogs on Saturday evening and announced that they would check all visitors on Christmas Eve. In Vienna, too, the police increased their protective measures.