Mohammed Al-Fatah, 40, described by media reports as the son of senior Hamas figure Bassem Naim and a former bodyguard to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, was found guilty on Friday at Birmingham Crown Court of wounding a law enforcement officer with a bladed weapon, possessing two knives, and causing criminal damage.
Al-Fatah is separately wanted in Germany, where he is suspected of playing a leading role in an alleged Hamas plot to launch terrorist attacks against Israelis and Jews across Europe, timed to coincide with the second anniversary of the October 7 attacks.
Also known as Mohammed Naim, Al-Fatah was born in Germany and raised in the Gaza Strip. He moved to the UK in 2014, was granted political asylum in 2015, and became a British citizen in 2020.
British media identified him as a former member of Haniyeh’s security detail. A court-imposed reporting restriction shielded his identity throughout the trial, but the order was lifted following his conviction on Friday.
The confrontation took place on October 14, 2025, when enforcement officer Kevin Becknall arrived at Al-Fatah’s home in Birmingham’s Kings Heath neighborhood to collect more than £2,250 in unpaid parking fines incurred by his wife.
An argument erupted inside the house, after which Al-Fatah stepped outside carrying two large kitchen knives and half a brick.
Footage presented in court showed him chasing Becknall’s vehicle, slashing at the window with the knives and shattering the glass. Becknall suffered a head injury, with blood running down his neck and back, and was taken to hospital for treatment.
Al-Fatah maintained that he had acted in self-defense, pointing to traumatic experiences in Gaza and Egypt. He told the court he had been shot twice in the past and had learned of his brother’s death in Gaza the day before the incident.
A psychiatrist who testified during the trial said Al-Fatah was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
The jury rejected his self-defense argument and convicted him by a majority of 10 to two. He was, however, acquitted of the more serious charge of wounding with intent.
Judge George Lubega ordered that Al-Fatah be held in custody and set his sentencing for January 11, 2027.
German prosecutors allege Al-Fatah’s central role in Hamas terror plot
Al-Fatah also faces a separate and more serious terrorism case in Germany.
In an official statement issued in September, which announced charges against seven other suspects, German federal prosecutors alleged that Al-Fatah—identified in German court documents as “Mohammed A.”—had assumed a particularly prominent position within a Hamas terrorist network and maintained ties to the group’s leadership.
Prosecutors said Al-Fatah met twice in Berlin with another member of the network during the summer of 2025 and received five handguns and ammunition. He then transported the weapons to Austria and stored them in Vienna as part of preparations for attacks targeting Israeli representatives, Jews, and people associated with Israel in Germany and Austria.
An investigation published by the Austrian newspaper Der Standard on October 1, 2026, drawing on materials from the German probe, identified two potential targets in Vienna: the Jewish Museum and the Austrian-Israeli Society.
German prosecutors said that by the time network members were arrested on October 1, 2025, the group had amassed an automatic rifle, 13 functioning handguns, and more than 700 rounds of ammunition.
Among the most serious allegations was that Al-Fatah had pre-recorded a video claiming responsibility on behalf of Hamas for the planned attack, even before it had been carried out.
According to reports in Germany and Britain, he appeared in the recording wearing a mask.
Britain’s The Guardian reported that the plot was thwarted after Israel’s Mossad passed intelligence to German security services.
Al-Fatah was arrested in the UK in November 2025 under a German arrest warrant. He is now expected to face extradition proceedings to Germany once he has served whatever sentence is imposed in Britain.
UK jurors never told of alleged Hamas ties
One of the most notable features of the Birmingham trial was that jurors were never informed of Al-Fatah’s suspected Hamas connections, his alleged position within the organization, or the German prosecution’s claims that he had helped plan attacks against Jews.
The judge further directed jurors to treat Al-Fatah as a person of previous good character, given that he had no prior criminal convictions in Britain.
Yet at the time of the attack, Al-Fatah was already under surveillance by a British counterterrorism unit. He had previously been arrested and released on bail on suspicion of an offense connected to supporting Hamas.
That investigation was later closed without charges being brought.
The case has also prompted questions in Britain over how Al-Fatah secured political asylum and later obtained British citizenship.
According to The Times, the British Home Office is reviewing his naturalization file to establish whether he provided false information or concealed relevant details during the application process.
Responding to the case, the Home Office said there was no place in British society for those who resort to violence or seek to facilitate terrorist attacks on innocent people.
It also stressed that Hamas is a proscribed terrorist organization in the UK and that the government condemns anyone who chooses to support its activities or advance its aims.
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