A former bodyguard to slain Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was reportedly granted asylum and later British citizenship before being arrested in connection with an alleged terrorist plot targeting Jews and Israeli-linked individuals in Europe.

According to The London Times, which reported Sunday that the former bodyguard had received asylum in Britain, he joined Haniyeh’s security detail shortly after Hamas won the 2006 Palestinian Authority legislative elections, briefly resulting in Haniyeh becoming prime minister of the Palestinian Authority.

The former bodyguard reportedly departed Gaza for the final time in 2012 and later relocated to Britain. The Times said he was among several Hamas members granted asylum during the following decade after claiming they faced persecution in Egypt.

At the time, Britain designated Hamas’s military wing as a terrorist organization, while the group’s political wing, which was headed by Haniyeh, was not formally banned in the UK until 2021.

The former bodyguard was eventually granted British citizenship and settled in the suburbs of a major English city, working as an IT consultant despite his publicly known connections to Hamas, according to the report.

The Times reported that British security authorities had not considered him a priority when he allegedly began working with other Hamas operatives to prepare attacks against Jewish and Israeli targets in Europe.

The newspaper identified him only as “Mr. X,” citing a British court order that prohibits publication of his identity in order to prevent potential prejudice to another criminal proceeding involving him.

However, information published by The Times about Mr. X, including his age being in his 40s, his father’s senior position within Hamas, his arrest in Egypt more than a decade ago, his arrest in London in November in connection with last year’s alleged plot, his recording of a video announcing the planned operation, and his pending extradition to Germany corresponds with German court documents identifying Mohammed A. German newspaper Die Welt has reported that Mohammed A. is the son of Hamas politburo member Basem Naim.

German prosecutors have said Mohammed A. was detained in London under a German arrest warrant and described him as the alleged leader of the terrorist plot uncovered last year.

In November, the Mossad identified Mohammed Naim as the alleged owner of weapons discovered in Vienna during an international investigation into a suspected Hamas plan to attack Jewish and Israeli institutions in Germany.

Naim was also accused of helping obtain weapons for three suspected Hamas operatives who were arrested in Berlin approximately one week before the second anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack.

The Mossad said Naim met with his father in Qatar in September 2025, roughly one month before the second anniversary of the October 7 attack. According to the agency, the meeting suggested “possible involvement of Hamas leadership in authorizing and directing terror activity in Europe.”

The Mossad also said Hamas members based in Turkey may have played a role in preparing the planned attacks. The agency added that cooperation among European countries in confronting the threat “reflects growing international recognition of the increasing danger and their determination to thwart any Hamas activity on their territory.”