Dutch report exposes Hamas network organizing anti-Israel activity

The Netherlands’ General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) published its 2025 annual report last Thursday, detailing a network operated by the Hamas terrorist organization inside the country that is aimed at organizing and galvanizing anti-Israel activities, including street demonstrations. The report also described individuals who raised funds for Hamas and lobbied the government to advance the group’s interests.

It further found that Hamas supporters were active in promoting pro-Hamas propaganda online, in traditional media, and in other public arenas.

According to the report, at least ten individuals in the Netherlands are directly involved in broader Hamas-affiliated networks across Europe. While demonstrations linked to the group have not involved overt violence, the assessment warned they could cumulatively deepen divisions within Dutch society.

It also indicated that AIVD is currently pursuing investigations into other activities by this network, which they believe might be a direct threat to national security in the Netherlands and elsewhere.

Of particular interest in the report was Samidoun Netherlands, which is accused of being a cutout for the Dutch franchise of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorist group. It is sanctioned by Germany, Canada, and the U.S., but has offices in many other Western countries, including the Netherlands.

“The organization does not call for violence, but it does glorify violence against Israelis and the Israeli state, for example, by legitimizing the actions of terrorist organizations,” the AIVD report said. "Although Samidoun’s following in the Netherlands is small, this extremist message resonates more broadly.”

The report comes amidst a surge in arrests of Hamas-linked individuals in several European cities, many of them suspected of planning to attack synagogues, Jewish community centers, Jewish and Israeli-owned businesses and other properties.

Lenny Kuhr, a popular Jewish vocal artist who has had a long and successful career in Holland, recently announced that she is making Aliyah along with her husband and cited the rise of Islamism in Europe as one of her reasons for doing so.

“You won’t get through to it with reason,” she told the Dutch Pro-Israel group Christians Voor Israel. “Sometimes you think: maybe they will soften, maybe there will be some nuance. But then you see them strike back again. It is entrenched; it has been indoctrinated for decades. There is an unprecedented hatred. The beast is loose. What starts in one place spreads across the world.” 

The report also found that far-left groups in the Netherlands that have participated in anti-Israel demonstrations pose a relatively low risk of engaging in violent attacks. However, it warned that these groups are more likely to use non-violent forms of intimidation, including vandalism and graffiti targeting government buildings and companies involved in exporting defense equipment to Israel.

Separately, the assessment identified ISIS as the primary terrorist threat to the Netherlands, while noting that state-sponsored threats – often linked to both domestic and international organized crime networks – also remain significant. It added that “The AIVD observes that there is a major, persistent espionage threat emanating from intelligence and security services in countries such as Russia, China, and Iran, but also from services in countries with a large diaspora community in the Netherlands, such as Morocco.”

The findings come as Dutch public opinion toward Israel has shifted sharply in recent years. According to a 2025 Pew Research Center survey, 19% of respondents in the Netherlands held a favorable view of Israel, compared to 78% who viewed it unfavorably.

Other polling suggests broader societal changes as well, with only around 30% of Dutch citizens aged 15 and older identifying as Christian in 2026, and fewer than 15% attending church services at least once a month.