German authorities received tipoffs last year about the suspect in Christmas market attack

MAGDEBURG, Germany (AP) — German authorities said they received tipoffs last year about the suspect in a car attack at a Christmas market in Magdeburg as more details emerged on Sunday about the five people killed.

Authorities have identified the suspect as a Saudi doctor who arrived in Germany in 2006 and had received permanent residency. Police haven’t publicly named the suspect, in line with privacy rules, but some German news outlets have identified him as Taleb A. and reported that he was a specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy.

Authorities say he does not fit the usual profile of perpetrators of extremist attacks. He described himself as an ex-Muslim who was highly critical of Islam and in many posts on social media expressed support for the far-right anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

He is being held in custody as authorities investigate him.

"This perpetrator acted in an unbelievably cruel and brutal manner — like an Islamist terrorist, although he was obviously ideologically an Islamophobe,” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said Sunday. “The views and statements made by the perpetrator are being investigated, as are the tips and procedures that were given to various authorities and the judiciary. The right conclusions must then be drawn from this.”

The head of the Federal Criminal Police Office, Holger Münch, said in an interview on the German broadcaster ZDF on Saturday that his office received a tipoff from Saudi Arabia in November 2023, which led authorities to launch “appropriate investigative measures.”

“The man also published a huge number of posts on the internet. He also had contact with various authorities, made insults and even threats. However, he was not known to have committed acts of violence,” said Münch, whose office is the German equivalent of the FBI.

He said that the warnings, however, proved to be very unspecific.

The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees also said Saturday on X that it received a tipoff about the suspect in the late summer of last year.

“This was taken seriously, like every other of the numerous tips,” the office said. But it also noted that it is not an investigative authority and that it referred the information to the responsible authorities. It gave no other details.

The Central Council of Ex-Muslims said in a statement that the suspect had “terrorized” them for years as it expressed shock at the attack.

“He apparently shared beliefs from the far-right spectrum of the AfD and believed in a large-scale conspiracy aimed at Islamizing Germany. His delusional ideas went so far that he assumed that even organizations critical of Islamism were part of the Islamist conspiracy,” said the statement.

The group's chairwoman, Mina Ahadi, said in the same statement: “At first we suspected that he might be a mole in the Islamist movement. But now I think he is a psychopath who adheres to ultra-right conspiracy ideologies.”

Police in Magdeburg, the capital of the state of Saxony-Anhalt, said Sunday that those who died were four women aged 45, 52, 67 and 75, as well as a 9-year-old boy.

Authorities said 200 people were injured, including 41 in serious condition. They were being treated in multiple hospitals in Magdeburg, which is about 130 kilometers (80 miles) west of Berlin, and beyond.

The suspect was on Saturday evening brought before a judge, who behind closed doors ordered him to be kept in custody on allegations of murder and attempted murder. He is facing a possible indictment.

The horror triggered by yet another act of mass violence in Germany makes it likely that migration will remain a key issue as the country heads toward an early election on Feb. 23. A deadly knife attack by a suspected Islamic extremist from Syria in Solingen in August pushed the issue to the top of the agenda, and led the government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz to tighten border security measures.

Right-wing figures from across Europe have criticized German authorities for having allowed high levels of migration in the past and for what they see as security failures now.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who is known for a strong anti-migration position going back years, used the attack in Germany to lash out at the European Union’s migration policies and described it as a “terrorist act.”

At an annual press conference in Budapest on Saturday, Orbán insisted that “there is no doubt that there is a link between the changed world in Western Europe, the migration that flows there, especially illegal migration and terrorist acts.”

Orbán vowed to “fight back” against the EU migration policies and alleged without evidence that “Brussels wants Magdeburg to happen to Hungary, too.”

Gera reported from Warsaw, Poland. Associated Press writer Bálint Dömötör in Budapest, Hungary, contributed to this report.

People gather to lay flowers and light candles at the entrance of Johannis church near the Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Flowers and candles laid down in front of the Magdeburg Cathedra, after a car drove into a crowd of a Christmas Mark on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

A police officer guards the Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Sunday morning , Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

A couple embrace each other in front of flowers and candles laid down at the Johannis church close to the Christmas market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

People embrace as they mourn the victims near the Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

A police officer guards the Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, on Sunday morning, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

A police officer guards the Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, on Sunday morning, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Flowers and candles laid down in front of the Johannis church close to the Christmas market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

The Christmas market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, is empty on Sunday morning , Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Candles sit in front of the Christmas market early Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Magdeburg, Germany, after a car drove into a crowd at the market on Friday, Dec. 20. (Sebastian Kahnert/dpa via AP)

Candles and flowers sit in front of the Christmas market early Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Magdeburg, Germany, after a car drove into a crowd at the market on Friday, Dec. 20. (Sebastian Kahnert/dpa via AP)

Candles, flowers and wreaths sit in front of the entrance to St. John's Church early Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Magdeburg, Germany, after a car drove into a crowd at a Christmas market on Friday, Dec. 20. (Sebastian Kahnert/dpa via AP)

Public workers clean the Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, is empty on Sunday morning , Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Public workers clean the Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, is empty on Sunday morning , Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

People outside Magdeburg Cathedral follow a memorial service for victims of Friday's Christmas Market attack, where a car drove into a crowd, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Teddy bears were laid together with candles near the Christmas market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Public workers clean the Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, on Sunday morning , Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

People have laid flowers and candles in front of the Johannis church close to the Christmas market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Policemen walk past the Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, is empty on Sunday morning , Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Teddy bears were laid together with candles near the Christmas market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

The Christmas market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, is empty on Sunday morning , Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Public workers clean the Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, is empty on Sunday morning , Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Clothes and blankets lie on chairs at the Christmas market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Candles, flowers and wreaths sit in front of the entrance to St. John's Church early Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Magdeburg, Germany, after a car drove into a crowd at a Christmas market on Friday, Dec. 20. (Sebastian Kahnert/dpa via AP)

Teddy bears were laid together with candles near the Christmas market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip overnight and into Sunday killed at least 22 people, including five children, Palestinian medical officials said, while Gaza's small Christian community celebrated a pre-Christmas Mass.

Israeli authorities allowed a rare Gaza visit by the leader of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, for the Mass while the ever-present buzz of Israeli drones was heard outside.

One of the latest Israeli strikes hit a school housing displaced people in Gaza City and killed at least eight, including three children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Israel's military said it struck Hamas militants sheltering there.

A strike on a home in the central city of Deir al-Balah late Saturday killed at least eight, including three women and two children, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies. Another six people were killed in separate strikes on Sunday, according to local hospitals.

“The children are still inside the house. We are looking for them. They were sleeping in the living room, five of them together,” said a relative of a victim, Noman Abu Samra, as people searched rubble in Deir al-Balah. A window full of children looked on.

Israel has carried out daily strikes in Gaza more than 14 months into the war with Hamas. It says it only targets militants, accusing them of hiding among civilians, but the bombings frequently kill women and children.

Israel and Hamas recently appeared to draw closer to a ceasefire agreement that would include the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, but several obstacles remain, and the indirect talks have repeatedly stalled.

Dozens of worshipers gathered in the Holy Family Church in Gaza City as Pizzaballa and other clergy celebrated Mass. A twinkling Christmas tree was decorated with golden ornaments.

“I want to say, to tell you, that all the world, not only the Christian world, all the world is with you, So the war will finish and we will rebuild,” the cardinal said, urging Gazans to never be afraid.

His visit came as Pope Francis again criticized Israel's actions in Gaza. Francis said Saturday that his envoy had been unable to enter the territory because of Israeli bombing.

“Yesterday children have been bombed. This is cruelty, this is not war,” Francis said during his annual Christmas greetings at the Vatican. On Sunday, he called for a ceasefire.

The pope recently called for an investigation to determine if Israel's actions in Gaza constitute genocide, a conclusion later reached by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. The International Court of Justice is investigating genocide allegations brought against Israel by South Africa.

Israel, which was founded as a refuge for Jews after the Nazi Holocaust, rejects such allegations. It says it is only at war with Hamas, which it accuses of genocidal violence in the attack that ignited the war.

In that Oct. 7, 2023, attack, Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel and killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250. Around 100 hostages are still in Gaza, at least a third believed to be dead.

Israel’s subsequent bombardment and ground invasion have killed over 45,000 Palestinians in Gaza, more than half of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its count.

The offensive has caused widespread destruction and displaced some 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people, often multiple times. Hundreds of thousands are packed into squalid tent camps along the coast as the cold, wet winter sets in.

Israel has been carrying out a major operation in northern Gaza since early October, battling Hamas in the most isolated and heavily damaged part of the territory. Tens of thousands have fled as the military has ordered a complete evacuation and allowed almost no humanitarian aid to enter.

The Israeli military body overseeing civilian affairs in Gaza, known as COGAT, said on Friday it facilitated the evacuation of over 100 patients, caregivers and others from Kamal Adwan Hospital and Al-Awda Hospital in the north. They have struggled to function. COGAT said it also facilitated the delivery of 5,000 liters of fuel and food packages to the hospitals.

Kamal Adwan's director on Saturday asserted that Israel's military had ordered an evacuation and said shelling was occurring. Israel's military on Sunday said there was no evacuation order and it was unaware of any strikes there.

In the volatile West Bank town of Jenin, militants shot and killed a member of the Palestinian security forces and wounded two others. The Western-backed Palestinian Authority launched a rare crackdown there this month.

A statement from the security forces blamed the shooting on “outlaws,” without elaborating. The PA is internationally recognized but deeply unpopular among Palestinians, in part because it cooperates with Israel on security matters.

The PA exercises limited authority in population centers in the West Bank. Israel captured the territory in the 1967 Mideast War, and the Palestinians want it to form the main part of their future state.

Goldenberg reported from Tel Aviv, Israel.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Relatives and neighbors, two of them holding guns, walk during the funeral procession of a victim of an Israeli strike on a home late Saturday that killed at least eight people, in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. Some families in Gaza are armed to protect their homes from thieves in the camps.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians pray over the bodies of the victims of an Israeli strike on a home late Saturday before the funeral outside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. At least eight people were killed according to the hospital which received the bodies.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Neighbours watch the funeral procession of the victims of an Israeli strike on a home late Saturday, in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. At least eight people were killed according to the hospital which received the bodies.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians pray over the bodies of the victims of an Israeli strike on a home late Saturday before the funeral outside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. At least eight people were killed according to the hospital which received the bodies.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Bodies of victims of an Israeli strike on a home in Deir al-Balah late Saturday are prepared for the funeral outside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. At least eight people were killed according to the hospital which received the bodies.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians look at home destroyed by an Israeli strike late Saturday in Deir al-Balah Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. At least eight people were killed according to the hospital which received the bodies.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians look at home destroyed by an Israeli strike late Saturday in Deir al-Balah Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. At least eight people were killed according to the hospital which received the bodies.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Relatives and neighbours mourn over the body of one of the victims of an Israeli strike on a hom4 late Saturday as they are prepared for the funeral outside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. At least eight people were killed according to the hospital which received the bodies.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Pope Francis delivers his blessing as he exchanges season greetings with Vatican employees, in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Amani Abu Zarada, fourth from left, feeds one of her children with fried zucchini made over a fire made of paper and cardboard scraps outside their tent in a camp in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)