Terrifying warning issued as Hamas ‘plans to set up terror cells in Europe’

NATO members have been warned that Hamas plans to set up terror cells in Turkey and across the bloc, according to new intelligence.

The news comes as Israel‘s army (IDF) intensifies its assault on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip in an attempt to wipe out remaining Hamas military units.

The IDF says it has captured files belonging to Hamas which outline a detailed plan to export terror to Western countries.

The document, which has been viewed by The Times, reveals a three year plan to create a terror network in many NATO countries.

This would involve “setting up many military cells and safe houses in many countries”, followed by “training the military cells and … practical planning of sabotage and assassination”.

The document singles out targets for assassination, which include Mossad officers and commanders, as well as “influential Israelis”.

There are also plans to sabotage Israeli naval bases and carry out kidnappings.

Israel‘s army claims the damning document was discovered in the home of Hamza Abu Shanab, chief of staff to Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s leader in Gaza.

The disclosure of the document will come as a huge embarrassment to Turkey’s President, who has publicly backed Hamas throughout the war.

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan allows Hamas to maintain offices in Istanbul and has insisted on numerous occasions they are not plotting terrorist operations from or within Turkey.

On Monday he said that more than 1,000 members of the paramilitary group were being treated in hospitals across Turkey.

He also reiterated his stance that Hamas was a “resistance movement”. The Turkish government has repeatedly called the organisation a “liberation group”.

Attempts to negotiate a ceasefire appeared to have stalled over the Israeli assault on Rafah.

Qatar’s Prime Minister told an economic forum in Doha that Israel had no constructive proposals on how to tend the war.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said: “There is no clarity how to stop the war from the Israeli side. I don’t think that they are considering this as an option … even when we are talking about the deal and leading to a potential ceasefire.”

Qatar and Egypt have been at the forefront of attempts to bring an end to the war.

Izzat El-Risheq, a member of Hamas’ political office in Qatar, said the group’s delegation had approved an Egyptian-Qatari proposal that included the release of Israeli hostages held captive in Gaza and a number of Palestinians jailed by Israel.

Hamas has blamed Israel for the lack of agreement, and its Al-Aqsa TV’s Telegram account said the group would not make any concessions beyond those in the proposal it had accepted.