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Danish Police Detain Three People After Blasts Near Israel Embassy
Security personnel stand during investigation of two blasts near the Israeli embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark, Oct. 2, 2024. Photo: Emil Nicolai Helms/Ritzau Scanpix/via REUTERS
Danish police said on Wednesday they were investigating two explosions likely caused by hand grenades near Israel‘s Copenhagen embassy and had detained three young Swedes for questioning.
Two of the men were apprehended on a train at Copenhagen’s main railway station while the third man was detained elsewhere in the Danish capital shortly after the blasts, Copenhagen Police Chief Superintendent Jens Jespersen told reporters.
Two hand grenades were likely to have caused the explosions which had caused some damage to a building around 100 meters from the embassy, he added.
“We can’t say for sure if the embassy has been or not been the target of these explosions … We are also investigating if they have acted alone, on request or together with others,” Jespersen said.
He declined to say how the three, aged between 15 and 20 years old, were linked to the incident but said police expected to file preliminary charges against two of them for illegal weapons possession.
This year at least 10 Swedes have been charged in Denmark with attempted murder or weapons possession, stirring alarm and harsh criticism in Denmark over the spread of organized crime.
The Copenhagen explosions happened at around 3:20 am local time (0120 GMT), the Israeli embassy said.
“We are shocked by what has happened. No one was injured, and no one was present at the embassy when the explosions occurred,” a spokesperson for the embassy told Reuters.
SOARING MIDDLE EAST TENSIONS
The Danish security and intelligence service was assisting police with the investigation and assessing the already high security level around locations linked to the Jewish community in Denmark, the service said in a written comment.
The blasts occurred against a backdrop of soaring tensions in the Middle East as Iran attacked Israel with missiles.
Israel, which is fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, promised to retaliate, stoking fears of a wider war.
Carolineskolen, a Jewish school near the embassy in the Danish capital, would stay closed on Wednesday due to its proximity to the crime scene, the Jewish Community in Denmark told Reuters.
There have also been several recent security incidents near Israel‘s embassy in neighboring Sweden, where police on Tuesday said they were investigating suspected gunfire in the area.
In January, a Stockholm police bomb squad disarmed what investigators called a dangerous object outside the Israeli embassy building.
The incidents in Sweden caused no injuries or significant damage.
Swedish authorities have said security police averted several planned attacks linked to Iranian security services using local criminal networks. Iran has called the Swedish report “baseless.”
The post Danish Police Detain Three People After Blasts Near Israel Embassy first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.