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SWEDEN AND ISRAEL

Sweden investigates foiled Israel embassy attack as ‘terrorist crime’

Swede's intelligence service have taken over the investigation into a dangerous object – reportedly a hand grenade – which was found outside the Israeli embassy in Stockholm.

Sweden investigates foiled Israel embassy attack as 'terrorist crime'
A police officer outside the Israeli embassy in Stockholm on January 31st. Photo: Henrik Montgomery/TT

Police were called to the embassy on Wednesday after a “dangerous object” was discovered on its grounds, which the national bomb squad destroyed after determining it was “live”.

Police declined to comment on what the object was but media have reported it was a hand grenade.

“The preliminary investigation launched by the Swedish Police Authority on January 31st, following the discovery of a dangerous object at the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm, has been taken over by the Swedish Security Service,” the service said in a statement.

“In connection with this, the criminal classification has been changed to a terrorist crime,” it added.

Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet said it had been thrown over the fence surrounding the mission and had landed on the ground near the building.

Israeli ambassador to Sweden Ziv Nevo Kulman said in a post to X that the embassy had been “subject to an attempted attack.”

“We will not be intimidated by terror,” Kulman added.

Sweden’s government in late October pledged 10 million kronor ($1 million) to increase security at Jewish institutions and congregations, following increased anti-Semitism in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war.

In early December, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson took part in a march against anti-Semitism in Stockholm. Swedish police said at the time they had received 120 reports of anti-Semitic crimes since the outbreak of the war.

Following the October 7th attack on Israel by Hamas, which resulted in the deaths of around 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures, its military launched a withering air, land and sea offensive.

It has killed at least 27,019 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to the territory’s health ministry.

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SWEDEN AND ISRAEL

Sweden boosts security for Israeli interests after gunfire near embassy

Sweden was strengthening security measures for Israeli and Jewish interests in the country after gunfire near Israel's embassy in Stockholm, police said on Friday.

Sweden boosts security for Israeli interests after gunfire near embassy

Police sealed off the area around the embassy and carried out searches in several Stockholm neighbourhoods after hearing gunshots in the early hours of Friday morning.

“Due to suspected shots near Israel’s embassy in Stockholm, the police are taking security measures (to protect) Israeli and Jewish property and interests across the country,” the police department announced on its website.

Israel’s ambassador to Sweden Ziv Nevo Kulman thanked the authorities on X “for their immediate reaction and investigation, and for enhancing the security measures around our embassy and around the Jewish communities”.

The gunfire comes after Sweden’s intelligence service revealed in February that an investigation into a foiled attack on the Israeli embassy in Stockholm was being probed as a potential “terrorist crime.”

Police were called to the embassy on January 31st after a “dangerous object” was discovered on its grounds, which the national bomb squad destroyed after determining it was “live”.

Police declined to comment on the precise nature of the object, but media reported it was a hand grenade.

“The preliminary investigation launched by the Swedish Police Authority on January 31st, following the discovery of a dangerous object at the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm, has been taken over by the Swedish Security Service,” the service said in a statement.

“In connection with this, the criminal classification has been changed to a terrorist crime,” it added.

More to follow…

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