An explosive device detonated in the early hours of Monday morning outside a synagogue in Liège, shattering its facade and the windows of neighboring buildings. No one was injured due to the late hour.
The blast occurred at around 4 a.m. Liège Mayor Willy Demeyer of the Socialist Party described the incident as a criminal act and condemned it as antisemitic.
"I express my absolute condemnation of this most violent antisemitic act, which runs counter to Liège's tradition of respect for others. There can be no question of importing external conflicts into our city," he added. A local resident said the synagogue's main window was blown out. Windows in buildings across the street were also shattered. Police said the street remained closed as the investigation got underway, and a perimeter had been established in the surrounding area.
"Right outside the synagogue, there was an explosive device, and the entire facade – all the windows – blew out. We woke up from the noise, and when we came downstairs, we saw that everything had exploded," a local resident told French-language media outlets.
Investigators from the terrorism unit of the Liège federal police are conducting the initial investigation. The Belgian Defense Ministry's explosive ordnance disposal service, SEDEE, is en route to Liège. Its expertise is required whenever an explosion of a potentially criminal nature occurs.
Deputy Foreign Minister and Member of Knesset Sharan Haskel said, "Attacks on Jewish institutions are always the final warning sign before complete loss of control. Europe's attempt to buy quiet by accommodating extremism has failed time and again. The State of Israel will not stand idly by while the security of Jews is abandoned – it is time for Europe to adopt an iron fist against the axis of evil, before terror becomes the landlord of the continent."
