An explosion has damaged a Jewish school in Amsterdam in what the city's mayor described as 'a deliberate attack against the Jewish community'. The blast occurred early on Saturday in a residential neighbourhood on the south side of the city, causing limited damage and no reported injuries.
Mayor Femke Halsema said in a press release that police and firefighters arrived quickly at the scene. CCTV footage captured a person placing the explosive device, Halsema added. Security at synagogues and Jewish institutions in the Dutch capital had already been heightened after an overnight arson attack at a synagogue in central Rotterdam on Friday.
Later on Saturday, police arrested three men aged 18 to 19 and a 17-year-old boy. Officers stopped a car driving suspiciously near another synagogue, with the driver matching the description of one of the perpetrators of the synagogue attack. Police said they were launching a 'large-scale investigation' and appealed for witnesses. It remains unclear whether the suspects planned to detonate an explosive or set fire to another synagogue.
Halsema condemned the attack as 'a cowardly act of aggression against the Jewish community', noting that Jewish people in Amsterdam are increasingly confronted with antisemitism. Concerns about possible attacks against Jewish communities have risen since US and Israeli attacks on Iran and Tehran's response.
