Crime07 June, 20262 min read
Greek Police Arrest Hamas Operative in Crete Over Plot To Detonate Cruise Ship Explosives
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37-year-old Palestinian man arrested in Crete as alleged Hamas operative. Plot aimed at detonating explosives on an Israeli cruise ship carrying tourists.
Arrest in Crete
Greek police arrested a 37-year-old Palestinian man in Agios Nikolaos, Crete, over an alleged plot to detonate explosives on a cruise ship carrying Israeli tourists. Greek authorities said the suspect was an operative for Hamas and that he was apprehended in a highly classified joint operation by Greece’s National Intelligence Service (EYP) and the Anti-Terrorist Unit.
The arrest came just days before the targeted cruise ship was scheduled to dock in Crete on Tuesday, according to Greek authorities described by GreekReporter. Searches in Crete and Athens turned up mobile phones, a laptop, external hard drives and bank cards, while state TV ERT said police also found laboratory equipment, as Fox News reported.
Training, evidence, and court
GreekReporter said intelligence officers analyzed mobile phones belonging to suspects in Cyprus and that a specific phone number surfaced as a critical link leading Greek counter-terrorism units to the 37-year-old in Crete. Greek authorities also said the suspects in both countries received specialized training at a camp outside the Gaza Strip focused on manufacturing improvised explosives using chemical substances, while Kathimerini.cy reported the man told investigators he had ordered materials online that could be used to manufacture explosives.
Kathimerini.cy added that the man told investigators he had not yet built a bomb, but he admitted ordering materials online and investigators found a precision scale and a glass measuring device in the Patissia district of Athens. The same Kathimerini.cy account said the man was arrested at 5:00 a.m. and that his questioning concluded at 7:00 p.m., and it said he has remained in custody ever since.
What happens next
Greek authorities said the 37-year-old remains in custody and is scheduled to appear before a public prosecutor, while police also said investigations are ongoing. GreekReporter described investigators as treating the threat as exceptionally serious and said they were unconvinced by the suspect’s reported claim during interrogation that he had planned an attack but ultimately backed out.
Kathimerini.cy said authorities were concerned the suspect might attempt an operation in Greece in the near future, whether in Crete or elsewhere in the country. In parallel, Fox News said the case appears to be part of a broader regional counterterrorism probe that included Cyprus arrests on May 22 and May 29, and it said the Crown Iris has become a recurring flashpoint at Greek ports amid anger over the war in Gaza.