A foreign citizen was detained in Romania’s capital on Monday after allegedly attacking the entrance of the Israeli Embassy with a Molotov cocktail, causing a small fire but no casualties, local media and police reported.
A 34-year-old man was apprehended by antiterrorism officers from the Romanian Intelligence Service before police arrived at the scene, police in Bucharest said, adding that the suspect allegedly also tried to set himself on fire.
Local media reported that the suspect is a Syrian national. A police spokesperson told local news channel Digi24 that the incident was motivated by personal grievances and not by the international context of Israel’s ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli embassy confirmed the incident in an official statement, saying that when security officials approached the suspect “he took out a Molotov cocktail, lit it and threw it toward the entrance door to the lobby of the building.”
Israel’s ambassador to Romania, Reuven Azar, condemned the incident in a video statement released Monday, saying that “terrorism knows no borders” and labeling the suspect a “violent extremist” who is being interrogated by Romanian police.
“I want you to rest assured that we are safe, we are intact,” he said, adding that neither Israel nor Romania “will surrender to terrorism.”
The embassy thanked the Romanian security and police forces for their “swift and efficient response." Police said that investigations are underway to establish the circumstances of the incident.
