Danish and Swedish police probing explosions, gunshot at Israeli embassies
Foreign Ministry says Copenhagen embassy was closed during likely grenade blasts, staff and building unharmed; Swedish police confirm Israeli embassy in Stockholm shot at Tuesday
Police in Denmark and Sweden said Wednesday that they were investigating blasts and a shooting near Israel’s embassies in the Scandinavian countries’ respective capitals. In both cases, police said no injuries were reported.
Danish police said they had arrested three Swedish nationals aged between 15 and 20, in connection with two explosions, likely caused by hand grenades, near Israel’s embassy in Copenhagen, at about 3:20 a.m. local time.
Police said one suspect was arrested shortly after the incident, near the crime scene, and the other two were detained later, on a train at the Danish capital’s Central Station.
Separately, in neighboring Sweden, police confirmed that a bang near the Israeli embassy in Stockholm Tuesday evening was caused by gunfire aimed at the building, which was said to have been hit. No arrests were made, police said, adding that the investigation was ongoing.
The two incidents came amid a significant uptick in antisemitic incidents in both northern countries amid the war in Gaza.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Jakob Hansen of the Copenhagen police said that given the Israeli embassy’s proximity to the blasts there, “that is naturally also an angle that we look at.”
The embassy in Copenhagen was closed at the time of the explosions, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said, adding that there was no damage to the building or its staff.
In a Facebook post, the embassy expressed shock over the explosions and said it had full confidence in the Danish police handling the investigation.
An area was cordoned off around the embassy and armed Danish military personnel stood guard, while investigators wearing coverall suits were seen combing the scene for evidence.
A police spokesperson told reporters at the scene that it was too early to say how big the blasts had been.
Carolineskolen, a Jewish school located near the embassy in the Danish capital, would stay closed on Wednesday due to its proximity to the crime scene, a spokesperson for the Jewish Community in Denmark told Reuters.
#BREAKING : Three people were arrested in connection with explosions outside the Israeli Embassy in Copenhagen#Denmark #IsraeliEmbassy #Copenhagen #Explosion #Arrest pic.twitter.com/AtCWVLmyHi
— upuknews (@upuknews1) October 2, 2024
Regarding the shooting at the embassy in Sweden, Rebecca Landsberg, press officer for the Stockholm police, told AFP, “We’ve made finds that indicate a shooting at Israel’s embassy, but we don’t want to disclose exactly what finds have been made since there is an ongoing investigation.”
Local news outlet TV4 Nyheterna said that after the gunshot was heard near the embassy, police found a gun and an empty bullet casing.
Landsberg said an investigation had been opened into an aggravated weapons offense, endangerment of others, and unlawful threats.
Police had made no arrests, but Landberg said the area was under heavy surveillance by cameras and police were actively gathering and analyzing material.
Denmark and Sweden, both home to thousands-strong Jewish communities, have seen sharp rises in antisemitic attacks since the war in Gaza was sparked on October 7, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill nearly 1,200 people and take 251 hostages.
In February, Henri Goldstein, the head of the Danish Jewish community, told The Associated Press that the number of antisemitic incidents registered in Denmark since October 7 had reached levels not seen since 1943.
“We have seen a violent escalation, not least fueled by the uncontrolled spread of hatred on social media,” Goldstein said, adding that in 2023, “all 121 incidents were Jew-hatred – and not ‘just criticism of Israel.’”
In September, a 21-year-old man in Denmark was arrested for arson after allegedly setting a fire at a Jewish woman’s home in Copenhagen and faced preliminary court charges under the country’s terrorism laws that can lead to a life sentence.
The Danish Security and Intelligence Service warned at the time of an “intensified terrorist threat against Jewish and Israeli targets in Denmark, especially in light of the conflict in Israel and Gaza,” Borch Andersen, the head of the security agency, said.
Sweden has also reported an increase in antisemitic hate crimes since the war in Gaza started.
In January, police found a grenade on the grounds of the Israeli embassy compound in Stockholm, which the ambassador said was an attempted attack.
In mid-May, gunshots were fired outside the Israeli embassy, which prompted the country to boost security measures around Israeli interests and Jewish community institutions.
The Scandinavian country’s intelligence agency Sapo said in late May that Iran was recruiting members of Swedish criminal gangs to commit “acts of violence” against Israeli and other interests in Sweden — a claim Iran denied.
In early June, police said they had found a “suspected explosive object” outside the offices of Israeli military technology firm Elbit Systems, known for its unmanned aerial systems, in Sweden’s second-largest city Gothenburg.
