An image of Anan Yaeesh, a Palestinian arrested in Italy on terrorism charges. Photo: Screenshot

The Italian authorities on Monday announced the arrest of three Palestinians on suspicion of plotting terrorist attacks in Europe, one of whom has been in custody since January awaiting possible extradition to Israel.

According to Italian anti-terrorist police, the three men had been living in the city of l’Aquila north of Rome on visas issued for humanitarian reasons. Documents submitted by the prosecution alleged that the Palestinians had attempted to establish a “rapid response group” connected to the Tulkarem Brigade of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades — a terrorist group linked to the Fatah Party of Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas.

The three are suspected of planning terrorist attacks on a European country unnamed by the Italian authorities.

One of the men, 37-year-old Anan Yaeesh, has been living in Italy since 2017, according to the La Repubblica news outlet. Yaeesh has been held at the Terni remand prison since Jan. 27 following an extradition request from Israel.

Yaeesh’s lawyers have filed an application to deny the Israeli request that will be heard in court on Tuesday. Documents submitted by the two lawyers, Flavio Rossi Albertini and Stefania Calvanese, expressed concern that Yaeesh would be subjected to “inhuman and degrading treatment” and “torture” in the event that he was extradited to Israel. Yaeesh is accused by the Israelis of raising funds for terrorist groups.

Left-wing and pro-Hamas groups in Italy have been advocating for Yaeesh’s release, with one communist outlet asserting that his extradition would set a precedent enabling Israel to successfully obtain similar extraditions of Palestinians elsewhere in Europe.

The same outlet reported that Yaeesh, who is from the West Bank city of Tulkarem, had served four years in Israeli prisons after he was captured by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in 2006. In 2017, Yaeesh moved to Italy, receiving permanent residency in 2019. Last year, Yaeesh was reportedly arrested by security services while on a visit to Jordan, but was released and allowed to return to Italy.

Following the arrests, Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi hailed the detention of “three dangerous terrorists” and said Italy was always on high alert against extremism and radicalization.