Shots fired at the Israeli embassy in Sweden, no one was injured

Police officers stood guard outside the Israeli embassy in Stockholm yesterday after the suspected shooting. (TT News Agency/AP Photo)

STOCKHOLM: Swedish police said today that a shooting had taken place yesterday at the Israeli embassy in Stockholm, adding that no one was injured and that an investigation had been opened.

Police said they had been alerted that a “bang” was heard on a street near the embassy in central Stockholm just before 6pm yesterday.

“We have made finds that point to a shooting at the Israeli embassy, ​​but we do not want to reveal exactly what finds have been made as there is an ongoing investigation,” Rebecca Landberg, press officer at Stockholm police, told AFP.

The statement came as police in neighboring Denmark said they were investigating two explosions that occurred overnight in the “immediate vicinity” of the Israeli embassy, ​​also without injuring anyone.

Swedish police said in a statement that information indicated the embassy building had been hit by shots.

Landberg added that no one was injured and that an investigation has been opened into aggravated weapons offense, endangering others and unlawful threats.

Police had made no arrests, but Landberg said the area was heavily monitored by cameras and police were actively collecting and analyzing material.

The shooting came as tensions rise in the Middle East, with Iran firing a barrage of missiles into Israeli territory and Israel vowing to make Iran “pay” for the attack.

Since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023, several incidents have been reported apparently targeting Israeli interests in Sweden.

In February, police found a grenade on the grounds of the Israeli embassy compound, which the ambassador said was an attempted attack.

Gunshots were fired outside the Israeli embassy in mid-May, prompting the country to step up security measures around Israeli interests and Jewish community institutions.

The Scandinavian country’s intelligence service, Sapo, said in late May that Iran was recruiting members of Swedish criminal gangs to commit “acts of violence” against Israeli and other interests in Sweden – a claim Iran denied.

The Nordic country has also reported an increase in anti-Semitic hate crimes since the start of the war in Gaza.

In early June, police said they had found a “suspected explosive object” outside the offices of Israeli military technology company Elbit Systems, known for its unmanned aerial systems, in Sweden’s second-largest city, Gothenburg.