German prosecutors have charged a Syrian man with plotting an Islamist terror attack against Jews in Berlin.
The suspect, 23, whom police are not naming, is accused of preparing a major atrocity aimed primarily at Jewish residents of the city, as well as non-Muslims.
The indictment claims he planned to murder as many Jewish people as possible with a knife before detonating an explosive device in a suicide attack.
The man also faces charges of financing terror groups and spreading propaganda for the so-called Islamic State, according to the Berlin general prosecutor’s office.
The suspect arrived in Germany in 2023 and was granted subsidiary protection in September 2024.
This status was revoked in January by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees.
He has been held in custody since his arrest on November 1, 2025.
Authorities say the suspect was radicalised online, and then used social media platforms including Telegram and TikTok to research jihadist ideology.
He is also alleged to have communicated with an unidentified individual about the intended attack. Prosecutors claim he purchased materials online that could be used to build both explosive and incendiary devices.
Jewish communities in Germany have repeatedly been targeted over the past decade.
On December 19, 2016, in Berlin, an Islamist ploughed a lorry into a Christmas market close to a synagogue, killing 13 people.
On April 17, 2018, in the same city, a man wearing a kippah was assaulted in the street in an attack that shocked the country after video footage spread online.
Then on October 9, 2019 – Yom Kippur – in the eastern city of Halle, a heavily armed far-right extremist attempted to storm a synagogue and carry out a bloodbath.
He failed to breach the doors but murdered two people nearby.
More recently, on October 18, 2023, in Berlin, Molotov cocktails were thrown at a synagogue, while on the same day, another suspect attempted to force entry into a Jewish community centre in the city before being stopped.
In December last year, police arrested five men for allegedly plotting an Islamist car-ramming attack on a Christmas market in Bavaria.
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