Serbia has raised its national terror threat level to red, the highest possible, after a knife attack outside the Israeli embassy in Belgrade left the attacker dead and a police officer wounded in the early hours of Wednesday.
The attack took place just after midnight, when a young assailant armed with two knives rushed at a gendarmerie officer guarding the embassy. The officer, lightly wounded in the head, opened fire and killed the attacker. Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said police are treating the incident as a terrorist attack.
FAKTA
- What happened: A knife attack outside the Israeli embassy in Belgrade, just after midnight on Wednesday, 28 October 2026.
- Casualties: The attacker was shot dead; the guarding police officer suffered a light head wound.
- The attacker: A minor, believed to be from the western Serbian town of Šabac, armed with two knives.
- Official response: Serbia’s terror threat level raised to red, the highest level, with an increased police presence at key sites.
- Previous incident: A similar attack at the same embassy in June 2024, when a crossbow assailant wounded an officer.
Attack in the early hours
According to the interior minister’s statement, the attacker rushed at the gendarmerie officer while shouting a religious slogan and attacked him with two knives. The officer fired in self-defence, killing the assailant at the scene. Police sealed off the area around the embassy, where officers in full gear stood guard.
Dacic said the attacker was a minor whose full identity has not yet been determined, but who is believed to come from Šabac in western Serbia. He added that security agencies had been monitoring the young man and said he had expressed support for the Islamic State group on social media, claims that rest on the minister’s statement alone.
Highest alert across Serbia
The red level is the strongest security step available, bringing a visibly heavier police presence to embassies, transport hubs and other sensitive locations.
Wednesday’s attack is the second of its kind at Belgrade’s Israeli embassy in two years. In June 2024, an assailant shot a Serbian police officer in the neck with a crossbow outside the same building; the guard returned fire and killed the attacker. That earlier incident had already led to tighter protection around the embassy.
A tense political moment
The attack comes at a sensitive time for both countries. Israelis voted in a parliamentary election on Tuesday, with early projections showing no clear winner between the opposition bloc and the camp of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Serbia itself held an early parliamentary election on Sunday, won by a student-led movement over the long-ruling party of former president Aleksandar Vucic. The outgoing administration remains in office in a caretaker role until a new government is formed.
Authorities have released no further details on the attacker or a motive beyond the minister’s statement; the investigation is continuing. For more international coverage, visit Watan News International.
