BERLIN — Three alleged members of the Palestinian militant group Hamas have been arrested in Germany on suspicion of plotting attacks on Jewish institutions in the country, officials said on Wednesday.

The suspects are set to appear in court Thursday and a judge will then determine whether the trio can be held in custody ahead of trial.

Germany's federal prosecutor said they have been involved in procuring firearms since earlier this summer.

Two of the suspects are German citizens. The federal prosecutor's office described the third as being born in Lebanon.

They were named only as Abed Al G., Wael F. M., and Ahmad I., in line with German privacy rules.

Questions will likely be raised over whether the suspects were acting on orders from the Hamas leadership or if they were merely sympathisers with Hamas or the Palestinian cause.

The federal prosecutor's office said in a statement on Wednesday that, during the course of the arrests, "various weapons, including an AK 47 assault rifle and several pistols, and a significant amount of ammunition, were found".

It added: "The weapons were intended for use by Hamas in assassination attacks on Israeli or Jewish institutions in Germany."

Prosecutors in Germany typically only refer to suspects by their first name and an initial.

German media report the men were arrested when they met for a weapons handover in the capital.

Police searches also took place in the cities of Leipzig and Oberhausen around the time of the Berlin arrests, according to newspaper Der Spiegel.

Hamas denied any connection to the arrestedmen.

The group, which controls Gaza, said in a statement that the allegations against it were "baseless" and aimed to "undermine the German people's sympathy for the Palestinian people".

Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, added that it had a policy of limiting activities to what it considers Palestinian territory.

The arrests took place as Hamas said it would study US President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace proposal to end the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

A Hamas-led attack on southern Israel nearly two years ago killed some 1,200 people and 251 others were abducted.

Most of the hostages have been freed under previous ceasefire deals, but 48 are still held in Gaza with around 20 believed by Israel to be alive.

Israel's subsequent military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 66,000 Palestinians and wounded nearly 170,000 others, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and militants in its toll, but has said women and children make up around half of the dead. — Agencies