No injuries reported after explosion at Jewish school in Amsterdam, officials say
A Jewish school in Amsterdam was damaged after an overnight explosion against its exterior wall, Mayor Femke Halsema said in a statement Saturday, denouncing the blast as a “cowardly act of aggression.”
An investigation has been opened. Halsema said police have CCTV footage of a person placing the explosive device.
No injuries were reported, Halsema said. She described the damage as “limited,” but noted that Amsterdam’s Jewish community has been “increasingly often confronted with antisemitism and this is unacceptable.”
“A school must be a place where children can attend classes in complete safety. Amsterdam must be a place where Jews can live in safety,” Halsmea said.
Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten called the incident “terrible” on X and said “Antisemitism has no place in the Netherlands.”
“I understand the anger and fear this provokes, and I will quickly meet with the Jewish community. It must always feel safe in our country,” he added.
Dutch authorities said Sunday that police had scaled up security efforts in response to the explosion at the school, which came after a series of nighttime attacks last week in front of synagogues in the Belgian city of Liege and the Dutch port city of Rotterdam. Authorities said they had activated a strategic action plan that would allow for national police deployment to protect the Jewish community.
“In the past two days, violent incidents have taken place at Jewish institutions,” said Janny Knol, chief of police in the Netherlands, in a statement translated from Dutch. “First in Rotterdam, now in Amsterdam. This has a huge impact, not only on the immediate environment but on the entire Jewish community, including colleagues. As police, we are on standby throughout the country and we have scaled up considerably.”
String of attacks
The series of attacks on synagogues comes after the launch of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, a conflict that has since broadened across the Middle East.
Following the attack in Rotterdam, Jetten had condemned any act of violence or intimidation against the Jewish community or any other religious minority. Four men suspected of being involved have been arrested, Dutch authorities said Friday.
On Monday, an explosion shook a synagogue in the Belgian city of Liege before dawn, causing some damage but no injuries. It was strongly condemned by Belgian politicians and European Union officials.
On Thursday, a man rammed his car into a synagogue on the outskirts of Detroit, Michigan, sparking a blaze. The synagogue holds a school and early childhood center.
The suspect, identified as 41-year-old Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, died Friday from a “self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head,” an FBI official told reporters.
Sources told CBS News that his relatives were killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon in recent days.
Amid increasing violence and threats against the Jewish community in the United States, there has been a boost in demand for security services specifically protecting Jews, with officers stationed at schools, campuses and other buildings.
