Serbian police shot and killed an attacker who assaulted a guard outside the Israeli Embassy in Belgrade early on Wednesday, prompting the government to raise the country’s terrorism threat level to its highest setting.
Interior Minister Ivica Dačić said the assailant, believed to be a minor whose identity had not yet been officially established, attacked a member of the Gendarmerie with two knives shortly after midnight while shouting “Allahu Akbar.” The officer, who suffered a light head wound, shot the attacker in self-defence. The Israeli Foreign Ministry confirmed that no embassy personnel were harmed, as the mission was closed at the time.
Suspected extremist sympathies
Serbian security services had previously monitored the suspect over alleged sympathies with the Islamic State group, Dačić said, adding that the group’s black flag had appeared on an Instagram account linked to the attacker. Authorities are treating the incident as a suspected terrorist attack and are investigating whether the attacker acted alone. Officials believe the suspect may have come from the town of Šabac, though that has not been confirmed.
It is the second such attack at Belgrade’s Israeli embassy in two years. In June 2024, an assailant shot a Serbian police officer in the neck with a crossbow before being shot dead.
Security tightened nationwide
Dačić announced an increased police presence at sensitive sites, including embassies, transport hubs, infrastructure facilities and places where large crowds gather. “This means tighter security checks and an increased police presence,” he said. The attack came just days after Serbia’s parliamentary election, in which the student-led movement ousted longtime leader Aleksandar Vučić, and a day after Israelis went to the polls — a coincidence that has heightened attention on diplomatic security across Europe.
