Palestinian supporters of ISIS arrested in Germany

BERLIN – Authorities arrested two Palestinians for alleged criminal activity on behalf of Islamic State, the public prosecutor in Celle, in the German state of Lower Saxony, has confirmed.

Mahmoud Abu S. and Ahmad Abu S., both aged 21, are charged with “support of a foreign terrorist organization, as well as disturbing the peace by threats of criminal acts.” The men were arrested on Tuesday.

They are suspected of, since November, spreading Islamic State material over the Internet in order to commit crimes, according to the prosecutor’s statement.

The material was “spread on Islamic State-affiliated channels in order to create a climate of insecurity and fear,” said the prosecutor.

German authorities do not provide the last names of criminal defendants, out of privacy concerns.

In November, Germany’s federal prosecutors charged a Palestinian man with murder and six counts of attempted murder. Ahmad A., 26, allegedly murdered a 50-year-old man with a 20-cm. knife, and wounded an additional six people, at a supermarket in Hamburg on July 28. German authorities said Ahmad was not a member of Islamic State.

He wanted “to kill as many German nationals of the Christian faith as possible,” the prosecutor’s office said. He wanted his actions “to be viewed in the context of an Islamic attack, and understood as a contribution to worldwide jihad.”