COPENHAGEN: Police in Sweden and Denmark said on Wednesday they were investigating separate attacks around Israeli embassies in their capitals amid escalating tensions in the Middle East.
In Copenhagen, authorities reported two explosions occurred in close proximity to the Israeli embassy early Wednesday morning.
Danish police arrested three persons in connection with the blasts, including two men apprehended at Copenhagen Central Station and another detained earlier in the day elsewhere in the city. “Two men were arrested on a train at Copenhagen Central Station. In addition, earlier in the day we arrested a man elsewhere in Copenhagen,” police said in a post on the X social media platform.
“It’s too early to say if there is a link” between the blasts and the embassy, stated police spokesman Jakob Hansen.
In Stockholm, the Israeli embassy was targeted in a shooting incident on Tuesday evening around 6:00 PM (1600 GMT). Swedish police confirmed that the embassy building had been struck by gunfire, though no injuries were reported.
“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,” said Rebecca Landberg, a press officer for the Stockholm police. An investigation has been launched into weapons offences and unlawful threats.
Despite the serious nature of the incidents, neither police force has made any arrests related to the Stockholm shooting as they continue to analyze footage from numerous surveillance cameras in the area.
The Danish intelligence service, PET, is closely monitoring the situation and has engaged in discussions with the Israeli embassy regarding security measures.
“We are constantly assessing the scale of the security measures already implemented in relation to a number of Jewish locations,” PET said in a statement.
David Akov, Israel’s ambassador to Denmark, expressed his shock over the attacks, calling them “appalling” and underscoring the heightened security concerns faced by Israeli interests in the region.
Meanwhile, world leaders have asked Israel and Iran to step back from the brink following Iran fired a barrage of rockets at its arch-foe.
Following Iran’s missile attack on Israel, United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has denounced the “broadening conflict” in the Middle East.
With Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah group broadening alongside its ongoing war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Guterres slammed “escalation after escalation” in the Middle East. “This must stop. We absolutely need a truce.”
Iran said the assault on Tuesday – which took place as Israel stated it was mounting a ground offensive against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon – was in reply to the killings of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders.
It was the second time Tehran has directly attacked Israel, following a missile and drone strike in April in retaliation for a deadly Israeli air strike on the Iranian consulate in Syria.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken termed the attack as completely unacceptable. AFP reported that Blinken said that initial reports show that Israel, with the active support of Washington and other partners, effectively defeated this strike.
The Palestinian group Hamas lauded Iran’s attack on Israel. Hamas said the missile attack was retaliation for killings including Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut and Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Iran.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez denounced the Iranian attacks and called for an end to the “spiral of violence” damaging the region. French President Emmanuel Macron also condemned Iran’s attacks against Israel, claiming that his country had “mobilised” its military resources in the Middle East to counter Iran.
