Ex-bodyguard to Hamas chief, wanted in Germany over Oct. 7 plot, convicted for UK knife attack

A UK court convicted Mohammed Alfatih, a former bodyguard to slain Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, of attacking a bailiff in Birmingham. After his sentence, he is expected to be extradited to Germany over an alleged plot against Jewish and Israeli targets around the second anniversary of the October 7, 2023 attack.

A UK court convicted Mohammed Alfatih, a former bodyguard to slain Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, on Friday of attacking a bailiff outside his Birmingham home in October 2025. After serving his sentence, Alfatih, 40, is expected to be extradited to Germany to stand trial for orchestrating an alleged terror plot against Jewish and Israeli targets in Germany and Austria ahead of the second anniversary of the Hamas-led onslaught of October 7, 2023. German authorities issued a warrant for his arrest on October 16, 2025, when he was already in custody for the attack. Footage showed Alfatih brandishing a knife at a van, leaving the bailiff with a cut to his head. The Birmingham Crown Court found him guilty of unlawful wounding, possessing two knives and criminal damage, but acquitted him of wounding with intent. He will be sentenced on January 11. Alfatih, who previously went by Mohammed Naim, is the son of senior Hamas official Basem Naim. He was born in Germany, raised in Gaza, and served as a bodyguard to Haniyeh in the early 2000s. He moved to the UK, was granted asylum in 2015, and became a citizen in 2020. The Mossad said Alfatih helped procure weapons for three suspected Hamas operatives arrested in Berlin before the October 7 anniversary and met with his father in Qatar in September 2025, suggesting possible Hamas leadership involvement.