AMSTERDAM, March 13 (Reuters) – Dutch police open an investigation into an arson attack on a synagogue in Rotterdam on Friday, in the latest incident of suspected antisemitic violence since the start of the U.S-Israeli war on Iran.
No one was injured as a result of the fire, which was now over, and no arrests have been made, the city’s police said.
“Around 3:40 a.m., a fire was started at the synagogue,” Rotterdam police said in a post on X. “The fire burned for a short time before extinguishing,” the police added, calling for any witnesses to come forward with evidence.
Another synagogue, 200 km (124 miles) away in neighbouring Belgium, was hit by an explosion on Monday in what authorities said was an antisemitic attack. That attack caused damage but no injuries.
In Michigan in the U.S., a Lebanon-born U.S. citizen crashed his truck into a synagogue and its preschool and was shot dead.
Concerns about possible attacks against Jewish communities around the world have risen following U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran and a subsequent response by Iran.
(Reporting by Inti Landauro;Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta, William Maclean)
Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.
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