Members of Serbia’s Gendarmerie secure the entrance to the Israeli Embassy in Belgrade on Oct. 28, 2026, after a police officer assigned to the site was attacked with two knives shortly after midnight. (Andrej Isakovic / AFP via Getty Images)
A knife-wielding assailant attacked a Serbian Gendarmerie officer stationed outside Israel’s Embassy in Belgrade early Wednesday, authorities said. The officer responded by shooting and killing the attacker, who officials said was acting in a self-defense situation.
The attacker, who was a minor, reportedly yelled “Allahu Akbar”—Arabic for “God is great”—while slashing at the officer’s face. The officer suffered what authorities described as slight injuries.
Serbia’s Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said investigators were handling the episode as a terrorist attack and noted that security services had been tracking the suspect.
Dacic said the suspect had expressed support for ISIS and had posted a black flag featuring the group’s symbol on Instagram. Officials believe he was Serbian and originally from the town of Sabac, the minister said.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry described the incident as an “attempted terrorist attack” and said the appropriate authorities were investigating what happened.
“The attacker was neutralized by local police. No embassy personnel were injured, and the mission was closed at the time of the incident, which occurred late at night,” the ministry said.
Serbian prosecutors said a person dressed in black opened the door of a security booth outside the embassy at approximately 12:15 a.m. local time.
A Serbian police officer remains on guard outside the Israeli Embassy in Belgrade after the terror attack on Oct. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
The suspect moved toward the officer, identified as D.S., and threw one of the knives into the booth, striking him in the left cheek, according to prosecutors.
D.S. retrieved his service pistol and fired several times, killing the attacker at the scene, the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade said.
Images taken hours later showed heavily armed Serbian police guarding the embassy entrance as investigators examined the scene.
The Israeli Embassy in Belgrade is seen after the terror attack on Oct. 28, 2026. (Reuters/Zorana Jevtic)
Following the attack, Serbia raised its terrorism alert to the highest level. Dacic said police deployments would be strengthened around sensitive locations and heavily populated public areas nationwide.
The incident echoes a June 2024 attack in which a man armed with a crossbow wounded a Serbian officer protecting the Israeli Embassy in Belgrade. That officer returned fire and killed the attacker.
The latest violence occurred one day after Israel’s parliamentary elections, where exit polls indicated that no party had secured a clear victory.