German authorities arrest Libyan suspected of planning attack on Israeli embassy

German authorities announced on Sunday that they had arrested a Libyan national suspected of having links to the extremist group Islamic State (IS) who allegedly planned a gun attack against the Israeli embassy in Berlin.

Police and other security forces arrested the man on Saturday evening in Bernau, a town just outside the German capital, and searched his home there, the federal prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

The suspect is a Libyan national whom authorities identified only as Omar A.

“He intended to carry out a high-profile gun attack on the Israeli embassy in Berlin,” the statement said.

As part of his planning, the statement added, “the accused exchanged information with an IS member during a messaging conversation.”

Security forces also searched the home of another person considered a witness and not a suspect, the prosecutor’s office statement said.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said German security authorities “strike in time to thwart possible plans to attack the Israeli embassy in Berlin.”

“This shows that protecting Jewish and Israeli institutions in our country is vital and of the utmost importance to us,” she added.

The suspect was to be presented on Sunday before an investigating judge at the country’s highest court, the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe, the prosecution said.

Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor thanked German security authorities “for ensuring the security of our embassy,” German news agency dpa reported.

News of the case first came from the Bild newspaper, which reported that a heavily armed elite police unit had stormed the suspect’s home in Bernau.

He said German authorities acted after receiving a tip from an unspecified foreign intelligence agency.

“We are acting with the greatest vigilance and attention in the face of the strong threat posed by Islamist, anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli violence,” said Ms. Faeser.

Justice Minister Marco Buschmann also warned on Sunday of a “very serious” threat of Islamist terrorism in Germany.

“Israeli institutions are particularly often targets of terrorists,” he told DPA.

A sharp increase in anti-Semitic incidents has been recorded in Germany since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked the ongoing wars in the Middle East.