Serbian Police Kill Knife-Wielding Suspect Near Israeli Embassy in Belgrade

Belgrade, Serbia. Police killed a young man with gunfire near the Israeli embassy in the early hours of Wednesday, in an incident the authorities described as a terrorist attack. Interior minister Ivica Dacic said the man had charged at an officer carrying two knives.

How the incident unfolded

According to Dacic, the assailant shouted “Allahu Akbar” as he ran toward the officer. The officer suffered a minor knife wound to the face and fired at the attacker.

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The suspect

Dacic said the suspect was a minor and a Serbian citizen. The security services had been monitoring him because he was known to back the Islamic State. The services added that he had published an image of the Islamic State flag on his Instagram account.

Official response

Dacic told reporters at the scene that an investigation was under way. He raised the national terrorism threat level to “red alert”, the highest on the scale, which means stricter security checks and a larger police presence. Armed security personnel were seen guarding the embassy on Wednesday morning.

Embassy status

Israel’s foreign ministry confirmed in a social media post that no embassy staff were injured. It said the mission was closed when the incident took place.

Earlier attack

This was the second attack on the Israeli embassy in Belgrade in under three years. In June 2024, a man shot a police officer in the neck with a crossbow. The officer survived and killed the assailant, who was identified as a Serbian man who had converted to Islam.