Steph Deschamps / October 4, 2024
On Wednesday, October 2, Swedish police observed impacts on the Israeli diplomatic representation building. In Denmark, two explosions occurred near the Hebrew embassy, but no link has yet been established.
Worrying developments against a backdrop of high tensions between Iran and Israel. The Israeli embassy in Stockholm, Sweden, was the target of several gunshots on Tuesday evening. Although no injuries were reported, the Swedish police announced on Wednesday October 2 that a criminal investigation had been opened for “aggravated weapons offences, endangerment and illegal threats”.
“We have made findings that point to shots being fired at the Israeli embassy, but we don't want to disclose exactly what findings have been made as the investigation is ongoing,” said Rebecca Landberg, press officer for the Stockholm police. No suspects have yet been arrested, but “numerous surveillance cameras have been installed in the area and the police are working to collect and analyze material evidence”, the spokeswoman stressed.
Several incidents have occurred near the Israeli embassy in Sweden since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas in October 2023. In February, a grenade was found in the embassy compound, which the Israeli ambassador described as an “attempted attack”. In May, gunfire was reported outside the building, leading to increased security measures around Israeli interests in Sweden.
Swedish intelligence claimed at the end of May that Iran was recruiting members of Swedish criminal gangs to carry out “acts of violence” against Israel, which Teheran has denied. The authorities have also recorded an increase in anti-Semitic acts in Sweden since the start of the war in Gaza.
On Tuesday evening, but this time in Denmark, two “explosions” occurred “late at night” near the Israeli embassy in the suburbs of the capital Copenhagen, Danish police announced on Wednesday. “No one was injured and we are conducting preliminary investigations at the scene,” it said on social network X. “It's too early to say whether there is a link” between the explosions and the embassy, said police spokesman Jakob Hansen, adding that the police would be on the scene for ‘many hours’. However, police said it was not possible to state with certainty that the embassy was the target of the explosions, which “were probably caused by grenades”, they added.
In a message posted on X shortly before 1 p.m., it said that three people had been arrested for questioning. Two of them were apprehended on a train at Copenhagen Central Station, while the third was arrested elsewhere in the Danish capital earlier in the day. Some of them are Swedish nationals.
Without waiting, however, Israel's ambassador to Denmark, David Akov, said he was “shocked by the appalling incident that took place near the embassy a few hours ago”, in a message also published on X. Carolineskolen, a Jewish school near the embassy in the Danish capital, will remain closed on Wednesday due to its proximity to the scene of the crime, a spokesman for Denmark's Jewish community told Reuters.
These incidents take place against a backdrop of extreme tension in the Middle East, with Iran firing nearly 200 missiles at Israel on Tuesday, and the Israeli authorities promising that Teheran would “[pay] the price”.