Serbian police fatally shot an attacker who stabbed a gendarme in front of the Israeli embassy in Belgrade

An attacker was shot dead by a Serbian gendarme on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning outside the Israeli Embassy in Belgrade after attacking a police officer with two knives and shouting “Allah Akbar.” Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic described the incident as a terrorist attack.

The attacker, described by authorities as a minor possibly from the city of Sabac, was killed in self-defense. The gendarme sustained minor facial injuries during the attack. Following the incident, Serbia’s terrorist alert level was raised to its maximum.

According to the interior minister, security services had been monitoring the attacker, whom he said was a sympathizer of the Islamic State group. Dacic stated that the attacker had a black flag associated with the organization on his Instagram account. His identity had not been officially established when the information was published.

The incident occurred approximately two years after another attack on the embassy. In June 2024, a man armed with a crossbow injured a Serbian officer guarding the diplomatic mission. The attacker was then shot dead by a security officer. Romania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs had not announced a response.