The Israeli embassy was the victim of a planned attack

German authorities have arrested a Libyan linked to ISIS on suspicion of planning an attack against the Israeli embassy in Berlin.

German authorities announced that they had foiled a planned attack against the Israeli embassy in Berlin. The suspect, a Libyan suspected of links with the jihadist organization Islamic State (IS), was arrested.

This man had his asylum application in Germany rejected a year agobut he was still in the country, a particularly sensitive situation as the fight against illegal immigration has become a stated priority of Olaf Scholz’s government.

The suspect is accused of planning a “high-profile gun attack” against the Israeli representation in the German capital, the federal prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Sunday, after announcing the arrest of this man on Saturday evening.

Provisional detention

This 28-year-old Libyan was arrested at his home in Bernau, a commune neighboring Berlin, during a major police operation involving special forces. Presented on Sunday before a judge at the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe, the suspect was placed in pre-trial detention, a spokeswoman for the prosecution told the dpa agency.

As part of the investigation, a second apartment was searched Saturday in North Rhine-Westphalia (west), the prosecution said. According to the press, it is that of an uncle of the suspect with whom he wanted to hide after the attack, before leaving German territory.

“Fight against terrorism”

The man is suspected of being “a supporter of IS ideology”, according to the prosecution. He had “exchanges with an IS member on an instant messaging service” to prepare for his attack. According to the tabloid Bildthe German authorities were alerted thanks to information from foreign intelligence services.

“We will not relax the fight against terrorism,” wrote Olaf Scholz on the X platform, denouncing “a cowardly planned attack.”

Faeser stressed on Sunday “the elevated threat of Islamist, anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli violence”. The Israeli ambassador to Berlin, Ron Prosor, for his part, thanked the German authorities “for ensuring the security of our embassy” in a message posted Saturday evening on the social network X.

Acceleration of expulsions of irregular migrants

Since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which triggered the war in the Gaza Strip, the German authorities have increased their vigilance in the face of the Islamist threat and the resurgence of anti-Semitism, like many countries around the world. .

The man arrested on Saturday had arrived in Germany in November 2022 and had submitted an asylum application which was rejected in September 2023, a government source told AFP. The absence of expulsion proceedings against him risks rekindle an explosive debate in Germany.

After years of a generous reception policy, the country is increasing restrictive provisions, one of the key commitments of which is the acceleration of expulsions of irregular migrants.

An important section of measures in this direction was adopted on Friday by German deputies, while the social democratic chancellor is under pressure with the rise of the extreme right in Germany, as elsewhere in Europe.

Deadly attacks

Several deadly attacks have shocked Germany in recent months: at the end of August, a knife attack committed by a Syrian and claimed by IS left three dead and several injured during a party in Solingen (west). In June, another knife attack, attributed to an Afghan during an anti-Islam rally in Mannheim, left one dead, a police officer who had intervened.

In early September, German police shot dead a young Austrian known for his links to radical Islam as he prepared to carry out an attack on the Israeli consulate general in Munich. Attacks also targeted the Israeli embassies in Copenhagen and Stockholm at the beginning of October.

More than 3,200 crimes with anti-Semitic motivation have been recorded in Germany by the police from the beginning of the year until the beginning of October. This is roughly double the same period from the previous year. (chl/ats)