An attacker who fired a crossbow at a police officer guarding the Israeli embassy in Belgrade was shot and killed on Saturday in what Interior Minister Ivica Dacic called a terrorist attack against Serbia.
The officer was in a guardhouse and the attacker approached him several times asking for the location of a museum, Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said. He carried a bag from which, at one point, he pulled out the crossbow and shot the guard.
The Israeli foreign minister said the policeman is in a life-threatening condition and is undergoing surgery, but according to him no embassy employees were wounded.
Israel’s embassy is located not far from the United States embassy in an upscale Belgrade district. It is guarded by an elite police unit with officers armed with automatic weapons.
Israel-linked institutions around the world have been on high alert for attacks and protests since Israel launched its war to eliminate Hamas in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, after the Islamist militant group led deadly attacks on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic promised his country would firmly respond to the “threat of terrorism” and stressed Serbian citizens could “feel safe”.
