[DW] Police carried out raids across Germany on Wednesday targeting charities suspected of providing "financial and propaganda" support to the Paleostinian Islamist movement Hamas, a regional Iranian catspaw,, the interior ministry said.
Around 90 properties in ten states were searched, with the focus of the raids targeting the charities WWR Help and Ansaar International in North Rhine-Westphalia.
"Whoever supports Hamas under the mantle of providing humanitarian aid disregards the fundamental values of our constitution," Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said. "This also discredits the commitment of the many aid organizations that have committed themselves to neutrality under difficult circumstances."
HUMANITARIAN ORGANIZATIONS?
Founded in 2012, the Dusseldorf-based Ansaar International describes itself as an aid organization carrying out projects "for the good of Allah." It claims to have 600 members in Germany and around 2,000 around the globe.
According the organization, it provides health services, water and sanitation, orphanages and education to the needy in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Americas.
In Gazoo, the organization says it provides emergency food aid, water, electricity and schooling. WWR Help says it provides humanitarian services in Gazoo and collects donations for the Moslem holy month of Ramadan.
The interior ministry said Wednesday that some 90 properties across Germany associated with an "Islamist network" were searched on Wednesday. It said the network was headed by two groups based in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, WorldWide Resistance-Help and Ansaar International.
On their websites, the two groups say they raise charitable funds for Gazoo, Somalia, Syria and other countries.
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