German police raid properties as pro-Palestinian group banned

BERLIN (Reuters) - German authorities banned a pro-Palestinian group on Thursday for its alleged support of Hamas and police raided properties to confiscate devices and documents, the interior minister of North-Rhine Westphalia said.

Herbert Reul said the group, Palestine Solidarity Duisburg, had repeatedly propagated "its anti-Israeli and antisemitic worldview, at meetings and on social media channels."

Some 50 police officers searched the properties in the northwestern state, confiscating laptops, cash, cell phones and documents, he said in a statement.

Palestine Solidarity Duisburg was not immediately available for comment.

The group had been known to the authorities since May 2023, the minister said. It organised a rally in front of German arms maker Rheinmetall's headquarters, protesting the delivery of weapons to Israel, which is fighting Hamas in Gaza.

The German government last year imposed a complete ban on the activities of Palestinian militant group Hamas, already a designated terrorist organisation in the country.

North-Rhine Westphalia's Office for the Protection of the Constitution recommended the ban on Palestine Solidarity Duisburg, Reul said.

(Reporting by Riham Alkousaa and Kirsti Knolle; Editing by Ros Russell)

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