German Police Conduct Raids on Islamic Centers

 A total of 54 objects in Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Hesse, Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, and North Rhine-Westphalia were searched. The Blue Mosque at Alster, the headquarters of IZH, was among the locations searched in Hamburg. Heavily armed police secured the entrances. Simultaneously, 30 other objects in Hamburg with connections to IZH were searched. The IZH is suspected of acting against the constitutional order and the idea of international understanding, as well as supporting terrorist organizations such as the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Palestinian Liberation Movement Hamas. Raids also took place in Berlin, including a cultural center in Neukölln and a business complex in Zehlendorf. Frankfurt police searched the premises of the Islamic Culture Center Frankfurt (ZIK), suspected to be a suborganization of IZH.

In Munich, three objects were searched in connection with investigations against the "Islamic Center Hamburg," focusing on the Islamic Association of Bavaria, believed to have close ties to the Hamburg headquarters. Germany designated Hezbollah in Lebanon as a terrorist organization in 2020 and banned its activities on its territory. These inspections follow the German government's prohibition of activities related to Hamas and its affiliated organizations after the "Operation Al-Aqsa Storm" by Palestinian liberation forces on October 7. Hamburg's Interior Minister Andy Grote welcomed the actions, expressing the expectation that the Islamic Center Hamburg would be closed in the near future. He stated that the time of the Islamic Center is "clearly over," and the sooner it disappears entirely from Hamburg, the better