Serbian Guard Kills Attacker Outside Israel Embassy in Belgrade

A police officer shot and killed a knife-wielding assailant outside the Israeli Embassy in Belgrade just after midnight on Wednesday.

Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said the attacker was a minor carrying two knives who shouted Allahu Akbar as he approached a member of the Gendarmerie, the elite unit that guards the embassy. The officer sustained a facial wound and killed the assailant in self-defense, Dacic said. Police photos from the scene showed the guard's booth and the surrounding area cordoned off with police tape, with officers in full gear standing nearby.

Dacic said authorities were treating the incident as a terrorist attack, raised the terror threat to the highest level, and increased police presence at key locations across Serbia. Security agencies had been monitoring the attacker, whom Dacic described as a supporter of the Islamic State group. "He kept the black flag in support of the Islamic State on his Instagram" account, Dacic said. The attacker was believed to be from Sabac, a town in western Serbia.

The incident came three days after Serbia's Sunday parliamentary election, in which a youth-led movement defeated former President Aleksandar Vucic after almost two years of protests. Vucic and his allies still control the police, and a new government has not yet been formed. Israel held its own parliamentary vote on Tuesday, and exit polls showed no clear winner.

The Israeli Embassy sits near the U.S. Embassy in an upscale Belgrade district, guarded by an elite police unit whose officers carry automatic weapons. In June 2024, an attacker with a crossbow wounded a Serbian police officer at the same location; that officer shot and killed the assailant. Serbia has maintained close relations with Israel.