A synagogue in the Belgian city of Liège was rocked on Monday morning by an explosion outside its doors in what authorities are considering a potential terror attack.
At around 4 am on Monday morning, a blast was heard outside the synagogue on Rue Léon Frédéricq in the city of Liège, in the French-speaking Wallonia region of Belgium. Fortunately, no one was injured in the explosion.
According to a report from Le Soir, federal prosecutors have taken over the case “given the possible indications of a terrorist act.”
The country’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal Service (SEDEE) has also been deployed to the scene to investigate.
So far, authorities have not commented on a possible motive; however, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever wrote of the attack: “An explosion occurred in front of a synagogue in Liège last night. Antisemitism is an attack on our values and our society, and we must fight it unequivocally.
“We stand in solidarity with the Jewish community in Liège and across the country.”
Minister of the Interior Bernard Quintin also condemned the attack as an “abject antisemitic act that directly targeted Belgium’s Jewish community.”
Quintin said that, in addition to the federal investigation, security measures will be increased around “similar sites”.
It comes amid heightened concern across Europe over potential terror attacks against Jewish or American targets in reprisal for the conflict in Iran.
Like fellow European nations such as France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, Belgium saw a significant spike in antisemitic attacks in the wake of the October 7th attacks committed by the Islamist Hamas terrorists in 2024.
Following the strikes on Iran by the United States and Israel, German authorities warned that American and Jewish sites could be potential targets in Europe, including from Iranian “sleeper cell” units living on the continent.
The attack in Belgium came just hours after another explosion in Europe, with the U.S. Embassy in the Norwegian capital of Oslo also being struck in an apparent bombing. Authorities are currently investigating the incident as a potential terror attack.
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