Dutch authorities were hunting Saturday for two people suspected of setting off an explosion outside a Jewish school in Amsterdam, according to police and local officials.
A City Hall statement said the blast hit the outer wall of the school in Amsterdam’s Buitenveldert district overnight and caused only limited damage, while investigators worked the scene and pursued the suspects.
Police said investigators determined that the two suspects arrived on a motor scooter. One person placed an object against the wall and then ran back to the scooter, with the detonation occurring as the pair sped away, the police statement said.
Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema denounced the attack as aggression toward the city’s Jewish community, saying Jewish residents feel “fear and anger” and increasingly face antisemitism. “That is unacceptable. A school must be a place where children can learn safely. Amsterdam must be a place where Jews can live safely,” Halsema said.
Halsema’s comments came as Dutch officials pointed to a wider pattern of recent violence against Jewish sites. Security around Jewish schools and other locations was reinforced after an explosion near a synagogue in Liege, Belgium, and after a blast that caused a small fire at the entrance of a synagogue in Rotterdam on Friday.
Dutch justice and security minister David van Weel said he was focused on protecting Jewish institutions as investigators try to identify the perpetrators. “Two nights in a row, a cowardly attack with an explosive at a Jewish building. First in Rotterdam, now in Amsterdam,” van Weel posted on X, adding that “The safety of Jewish institutions has our full attention” and that “An investigation into the perpetrators is underway.”