More than 12,000 cases relating to the Middle East conflict in Berlin - investigators are looking for many perpetrators in vain

In the three years after the Islamist Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, Berlin prosecutors brought almost 12,500 criminal cases related to the Middle East conflict on the table. A good 7,000 of them (as of October 1st) have been completed, as the public prosecutor's office announced at the request of the German Press Agency.

The authority differentiates in its statistics: it rates around 1,900 cases as anti-Semitic crimes. More than 1,300 other cases have an anti-Semitic background.

In addition, there are a total of more than 9,200 cases that are generally related to the Gaza war. More than 3,000 of these investigations relate to actions taken during demonstrations or rallies. This often involves the use or distribution of symbols of unconstitutional and terrorist organizations. But incitement and insults were also often recorded. In addition, many cases were recorded for resisting or attacking police officers.

The other 6,200 cases primarily concern damage to property, the use of symbols of unconstitutional and terrorist organizations, incitement, rewarding and endorsing crimes - such as celebrating the Hamas massacre - as well as insults and threats.

According to the figures, numerous perpetrators remain undetected: almost 5,500 cases are underway against unknown persons. Cases are often linked to other investigations against identical suspects or transferred to other public prosecutor's offices in Germany because of their place of residence. According to the public prosecutor's office, there have been almost 900 court decisions so far.

After the Hamas attack in Israel, police and public prosecutors in the capital recorded a sharp increase in crimes. According to the Anti-Semitism Commissioner at the Public Prosecutor General's Office, Jana Berthold, the number is now stagnating at a high level. However, numerous cases have not yet been completed by the Berlin police because, according to Berthold, the number of cases there has exploded.

On October 7, 2023, fighters from Hamas and other extremist organizations killed around 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped more than 250 others as hostages to Gaza. The unprecedented attack sparked the Gaza War.