Explosion damages Jewish school in Amsterdam in ‘deliberate attack’ on community

An explosion damaged a Jewish school in Amsterdam on Saturday, in what Mayor Femke Halsema described as a targeted attack against the Jewish community, Dutch media reported via Reuters. Authorities said the blast caused only limited damage, and it is not yet clear whether there were any casualties.

Police and fire services responded swiftly. Investigators are reviewing surveillance footage that may show the person who detonated the device, Sky News reported.

Rising antisemitic violence across Europe

The attack comes amid a surge in antisemitic incidents across Europe, amid heightened tensions in the Middle East following US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran. Jewish schools, synagogues, and other community institutions have increased security over fears of retaliatory attacks.

Similar incidents in Rotterdam and Belgium

This follows a similar attack in Rotterdam on Friday, when an explosion at a synagogue entrance caused a small fire but no injuries. Dutch police arrested four men, aged 17 to 19, after stopping a car near another synagogue matching the description of the suspects. Earlier in the week, a synagogue in Liège, Belgium, was also damaged in an antisemitic attack.

In the US, a Lebanon-born man drove into a synagogue and its preschool in Michigan before being shot dead by police. A Jewish organisation in the Netherlands said an Islamist group had claimed responsibility for the Rotterdam attack online and had previously taken credit for the Liège incident.