Former Hamas bodyguard convicted of Birmingham knife attack, also wanted in Germany over alleged plot to target Jews

A former bodyguard of a Hamas leader who was granted asylum and citizenship in the United Kingdom has been convicted in a knife attack case in Birmingham. The same man is also accused of leading a plan to kill Jewish people in Germany.

Mohammed Alfatih, also known as Mohammed Naim, aged 40, lived in Birmingham with his wife and three children. He was a bodyguard and close associate of former Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh. His father, Basem Naim, is a senior Hamas politician and spokesman.

At Birmingham Crown Court on Friday, a jury by a majority verdict found Alfatih guilty of unlawful wounding, possession of two knives and criminal damage. He was cleared of the more serious charge of wounding with intent.

During a two-week trial, the jury was shown video footage. On 14 October last year, outside his home in Kings Heath, Birmingham, Alfatih lashed out with a knife at the broken window of a van. Bailiff Kevin Bucknall was left with cuts to his head and required hospital treatment. Alfatih pleaded not guilty on the grounds of self-defence. Jurors were also shown footage of him brandishing two large kitchen knives outside his home.

Alfatih could not be named during his trial because of reporting restrictions. Jurors were also not told of his links to Hamas or that he was under surveillance by a counter-terrorism unit after being released on bail on suspicion of a terror offence days before the bailiff was attacked.

German prosecutors say a plot was planned to attack synagogues and other Jewish community sites in Berlin and Vienna around the second anniversary of the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. According to the allegations, on 28 July 2025 Alfatih travelled from Birmingham to Hasenheide Park in Berlin, collected five loaded semi-automatic pistols from an associate there, and took them about 320 miles to a rented warehouse in Vienna, where they were hidden. Masks, gloves and clothing for the attack were also kept there.

German prosecutors further say Alfatih, wearing a mask, recorded a video sitting in front of two pistols, in which he spoke of revenge on behalf of Hamas's military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. Germany's domestic intelligence service identified the plot after a tipoff from Mossad, Israel's secret service.

German prosecutors charged seven suspected Hamas members in September. They said 'Mohammed A' played a prominent role in transporting and storing weapons but was being prosecuted separately after UK authorities arrested him, and he had not yet been returned to Germany.

A week before the planned attack, on 1 October, German police arrested suspects involved in the plot. At the same time, West Midlands Police detained Alfatih on suspicion of expressing support for a proscribed organisation. He was later released on bail and kept under surveillance.

According to reports, after entering the UK from Gaza in 2014, Alfatih applied for political asylum. His application was granted in 2015 and he received British citizenship in 2020. Questions have been raised about the Home Office's role in how he received asylum and citizenship despite his past and close ties to Hamas. The British Home Office declined to comment on the matter. A government source said this is a staggering example of the loss of border control under the last Conservative government, who granted his asylum claim and gave him citizenship.

Sentencing in the Birmingham case is scheduled for 11 January. Alfatih is expected to be extradited to Germany to face terrorism-related charges after he has served his sentence in the UK, with his connection to Hamas stated in the German extradition request.