Explosion hits pro-Israel centre in the Netherlands

A blast hit a pro-Israeli centre in the Netherlands causing minimal damage and no injuries, police said Saturday, as the targeted group pointed to a spate of similar incidents across Europe.

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A police spokeswoman told AFP no one was inside the site run by Christians for Israel, a non-profit in the central town of Nijkerk, when the explosion went off outside its gate late on Friday.

“Investigations revealed that a person dressed in black placed the explosive device,” the police added in a statement, appealing for witnesses to come forward.

Christians for Israel said it was “shocked” by what it described as part of “a worrying pattern” of incidents targeting Jewish and pro-Israeli sites in the Netherlands and neighbouring Belgium.

“The damage was limited, but the impact is significant,” the group said in a social media post.

“The fact that this took place on the eve of Easter, the most important celebration for Christians, makes it all the more poignant.”

A little-known Islamist group with possible links to Iran that claimed responsibility for similar night-time attacks in Belgium, Britain and the Netherlands, posted an online video about the explosion, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist activities.

Unlike previous clips, the footage by Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya (HAYI) group, meaning the Islamic Movement of the People of the Right Hand, did not show the attack itself but featured online photos of the building and a threat against Israeli supporters, SITE said.

Police cautioned it was too early to determine a motive for the incident. An investigation was ongoing and no arrests have been made so far, they added.

Christians for Israel says its mission is to promote “Biblical understanding in the Church and among the nations concerning God’s purposes for Israel and to promote comfort of Israel through prayer and action”.

Its “Israel Centre” in Nijkerk hosts exhibitions, lectures and a shop, according to the group’s website.

HAYI has claimed to be behind a series of low-level attacks that have heightened concerns over antisemitism in the wake of the war in the Middle East.

Since the US-Israeli war against Iran began in late February, the group said it was responsible for setting fire to ambulances run by Jewish volunteers in London, torching a car in Antwerp, and explosions at synagogues in Liege and Rotterdam, and at a Jewish school in Amsterdam.

But experts have questioned whether the group really exists or is just a front for Iranian intelligence.

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