POLICE in Germany raided the homes of about 20 people today in connection with investigations into the far-right Reich Citizens movement.

This came as authorities also carried out raids on the properties of alleged Hamas members.

German news agency DPA said that about 280 officers raided properties in eight German states: Bavaria, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Schleswig-Holstein, Brandenburg, Hamburg and Lower Saxony.

Last month, police also searched homes of other Reich Citizens members who were allegedly connected to United Patriots, which Germany considers to be a terrorist group. Five suspects were arrested at the time.

In December, more than two dozen people were arrested in connection with plans to topple the government. Among the accused plotters was a member of the far-right Alternative for Germany party.

The Federal Intelligence Service (BND) estimates that about 23,000 people across Germany belong to the Reich Citizens.

Meanwhile, authorities also searched the properties of alleged Hamas members and followers in Germany following a formal ban on any activity by or in support of the group.

The German government implemented the ban on November 2 and dissolved Samidoun, a group that was behind a celebration in Berlin of Hamas’s surprise October 7 attack within Israel but which is mainly known for work to support Palestinian prisoners in Israel. 

The BND claims that Hamas has about 450 members in the country. 

“We are continuing our consistent action against radical Islamists,” German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said. 

“By banning Hamas and Samidoun in Germany, we have sent a clear signal that we will not tolerate any glorification or support of Hamas’s barbaric terror against Israel.”

The raids on 15 properties, mostly in Berlin, were meant to enforce the bans and to further investigate the groups, the German Interior Ministry said in a statement.