Germany Arrests Libyan Man Suspected of Planning Attack on Israeli Embassy

Police officers on duty during a raid stand in front of an apartment building in Stade, Germany, Tuesday Sept. 26, 2023. (Daniel Bockwoldt/dpa via AP)
Police officers on duty during a raid stand in front of an apartment building in Stade, Germany, Tuesday Sept. 26, 2023. (Daniel Bockwoldt/dpa via AP)
TT

Germany Arrests Libyan Man Suspected of Planning Attack on Israeli Embassy

Police officers on duty during a raid stand in front of an apartment building in Stade, Germany, Tuesday Sept. 26, 2023. (Daniel Bockwoldt/dpa via AP)
Police officers on duty during a raid stand in front of an apartment building in Stade, Germany, Tuesday Sept. 26, 2023. (Daniel Bockwoldt/dpa via AP)

German authorities have arrested a Libyan man with suspected ties to ISIS who was allegedly planning an attack on the Israeli Embassy in Berlin.
The man was detained on Saturday in Bernau, a town just outside of Berlin.

The prosecutor’s office said the suspect was a Libyan national whom they identified only as Omar A.
“He intended to carry out a high-profile attack with firearms on the Israeli Embassy in Berlin,” the statement said. In his planning, the statement added, “the accused exchanged information with a member of ISIS in a messenger chat.”
A spokesperson for the Israeli Embassy in Berlin confirmed to dpa that there had been a plan to attack the diplomatic mission. Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor thanked the German security authorities “for ensuring the security of our embassy," dpa reported.
News of the case first came from the Bild newspaper, which reported that a heavily armed elite police unit stormed the suspect’s apartment in Bernau and that police also raided an apartment in the western German town of Sankt Augustin in connection with the case.

According to Bild, the suspect is a 28-year-old who arrived in Germany in November 2022 and applied for asylum. Dpa reported that his asylum request was rejected.



4 Dead, Including 2 Children, in Latest Migrant Shipwreck Off Greek Island

Greek Coast Guard vessels take part in a search and rescue operation following a shipwreck, where migrants drown off the island of Samos, Greece, November 25, 2024. REUTERS/Sofianos Drapaniotis
Greek Coast Guard vessels take part in a search and rescue operation following a shipwreck, where migrants drown off the island of Samos, Greece, November 25, 2024. REUTERS/Sofianos Drapaniotis
TT

4 Dead, Including 2 Children, in Latest Migrant Shipwreck Off Greek Island

Greek Coast Guard vessels take part in a search and rescue operation following a shipwreck, where migrants drown off the island of Samos, Greece, November 25, 2024. REUTERS/Sofianos Drapaniotis
Greek Coast Guard vessels take part in a search and rescue operation following a shipwreck, where migrants drown off the island of Samos, Greece, November 25, 2024. REUTERS/Sofianos Drapaniotis

Four people, including two children, have died after a boat carrying migrants ran aground on a rocky shoreline on the eastern Greek island of Samos, officials said Thursday.
Sixteen people were rescued, but it remained unclear how many were aboard the boat. The Greek coast guard launched a search-and-rescue operation involving patrol vessels, lifeboats, and land teams to locate any potential missing passengers, The Associated Press reported.
A Greek government official said he expected the risk facing migrants to rise over the winter months, and blamed conflicts in the Middle East for a swell in illegal crossings this year.
The incident comes after eight migrants – six children and two women – died in a shipwreck off the island on Monday.
Samos and other Greek islands in the eastern Aegean Sea are key transit points for migrants crossing from Türkiye to the European Union, with arrivals in recent months that Greek authorities say is linked to ongoing wars in the Middle East and parts of Africa.
“The conditions are certainly not favorable,” Migration Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos told private Skai television Thursday.
“They do not tend towards reducing the flow of migrants, but rather increasing them – with all the geopolitical turmoil, especially in the Middle East, with ongoing wars and other issues,” he said.
Panagiotopoulos said he expected the risk of tragedies in the eastern Aegean to increase in the coming weeks as weather conditions worsen, and added that Greece will renew efforts to seek European Union funding for border wall construction under the next Polish presidency of the EU, which starts on Jan. 1.
Separately Thursday, police announced the arrest of nine people accused of operating a smuggling ring that allegedly provided migrants with false and illegally used documents to travel to western European cities.
The group, active since July, provided migrants with safe housing, clothing, and travel documents before escorting them to Athens International Airport, police said. Fees for those services ranged from 3,000 to 5,000 euros ($3,150-5,250).