A pre-dawn explosion damaged a synagogue in the Belgian city of Liège on Monday, prompting Prime Minister Bart De Wever to condemn the attack and promise a crackdown on antisemitism.
The explosion occurred around 4:00 a.m. outside the building, police said. No injuries were reported.
De Wever expressed solidarity with Belgium’s Jewish community following the blast.
“Antisemitism is an attack on our values and our society, and we must fight it unequivocally,” he wrote on social media. “We stand in solidarity with the Jewish community in Liège and across the country.”
Interior Minister Bernard Quintin also condemned the attack, calling it a “despicable antisemitic act that directly targeted Belgium’s Jewish community.” He added that security measures around Jewish institutions would continue to be strengthened.
Liège mayor Willy Demeyer warned against importing international tensions into the city.
“We cannot allow foreign conflicts to be imported into our city,” he told public broadcaster RTBF.
The incident comes amid growing concern over threats against Jewish communities in several Western countries.
In Canada, police increased patrols around Jewish neighbourhoods in Toronto after shots were fired at two synagogues late Friday night.
In the United Kingdom, three people were killed and several others injured on October 2, 2025, when a knife-wielding driver attacked the Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester. According to reports, the attacker called police during the incident to pledge allegiance to the Islamic State terrorist organisation.
In Australia, at least 11 people were killed in a mass shooting on December 14 near a “Hanukkah by the Sea” celebration in Sydney that had drawn about 2,000 participants. Footage later showed two masked gunmen exiting a car and opening fire near Bondi Beach.
Belgian authorities have not yet said whether the explosion was linked to any organised group.
