A Serbian police officer on Saturday shot dead a man who had fired a crossbow at him outside the Israeli embassy in Belgrade.
The officer was wounded in the neck by an arrow but was able to return fire.
Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Interior Minister Ivica Dačić said the officer was conscious and being treated at a hospital.
Authorities have opened a probe into the incident, added Dačić.
“Today, an attempted terror attack occurred in the area of Israel’s embassy in Belgrade. The embassy was closed, and no staff were hurt,” according to an Israeli Foreign Ministry statement.
#BREAKING Terrorist attack in Belgrade (Serbia).
A member of a radical Islamic organization shot a Serbian policeman in the neck with a crossbow during the attack on the Israeli embassy in Belgrade.
The terrorist was shot several times and subdued. #Serbia #Israel pic.twitter.com/tHHeh5nSvh
— Mario ZNA (@MarioBojic) June 29, 2024
Earlier this month, a man threw a Molotov cocktail at the Israeli embassy in the Romanian capital Bucharest. There were no injuries or damage from the attack and the 34-year-old suspect, apparently of Syrian origin, was immediately arrested.
Israeli legations around the world have been on high alert since the Hamas-led invasion of Oct. 7.
Late last month in Mexico City, pro-Hamas rioters set fire to the Israeli embassy during a protest ostensibly against the Israeli military operation in the southern Gazan city of Rafah.
Israel’s embassy in the Netherlands was firebombed in March and in January, an apparent explosive device was found near the Israeli embassy in Stockholm.
The Islamic Republic of Iran was behind the Swedish attack and other terrorist acts targeting Israeli embassies throughout Europe since Oct. 7, according to the Mossad intelligence agency.
Tehran-backed gangs are also thought to have carried out an attack on Israel’s mission in Brussels, in which two airsoft grenades were thrown.
On Dec. 26, Israeli missions were put on high alert after an explosion near the Jewish state’s embassy in New Delhi. Embassy staff were present at the time of the blast.
A month earlier, a 53-year-old man was arrested in Tokyo after crashing his vehicle into a barricade close to the entrance of the Israeli embassy. One police officer sustained non-life-threatening injuries in the attack.
In October, an Israeli embassy official was attacked in Beijing as Hamas called for a day of global “mobilization” against the Jewish people. The attack did not occur inside the embassy compound, and the diplomat was in stable condition after being evacuated to the hospital.
A week later, Cypriot police arrested four Syrians after an improvised explosive device was thrown 30 meters away from Israel’s embassy in Nicosia.
