Serbia: Terrorist Attack on Israeli Embassy
The dramatic episode, categorized as “jihadist terrorism,” cost the attacker his life, and a police officer was seriously injured
The wave of violence against Israeli missions and places of worship is spreading across Europe like wildfire. On Saturday, June 29, a man attempted to attack the Israeli Embassy in Belgrade, the Serbian capital. During the clash with the police, the terrorist was killed, and a policeman was seriously injured. Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic called the incident “an act of jihadist terrorism.” The attacker armed with a crossbow shot an agent guarding the diplomatic mission in the neck with a dart after a failed attempt to enter the Jewish State embassy.
The police officer, who got seriously injured, was immediately taken to the hospital where he underwent surgery to remove the dart, which was sent for toxicology evaluation. The darts are suspected to be poisoned. The agent is in intensive care in very serious condition.
Speaking to reporters, Dacic specified that the episode was immediately categorized as a “Wahhabi type” attack, an extremist movement within Sunni Islam. The investigation is still ongoing to learn more about the incident and possible motives for the attack. As a precautionary measure, Serbian authorities arrested several people suspected of belonging to terrorist groups and increased security measures in the Serbian capital.
On May 17 in Rouen, France, police shot and killed an armed man who was preparing to set fire to a local synagogue. Tensions over the war between Israel and Hamas have risen in many European countries. Acts of anti-Semitism are recorded throughout the Old Continent, and France, home to the largest Jewish and Muslim population in Western Europe, has become a real battleground between supporters of Palestine and the Jewish state.