Attack on Israeli embassy in Belgrade with crossbow

On 29 June 2024, a man armed with a crossbow attacked the Israeli embassy in the Dedinje area of Belgrade. According to Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dačić, the assailant approached the guard post, then fired a bolt that struck a Serbian police officer on duty in the neck. The wounded officer returned fire and fatally shot the attacker. The officer was conscious when taken to Belgrade's main emergency hospital, underwent surgery to remove the bolt, and was reported in stable condition; President Aleksandar Vučić visited him in hospital. No embassy staff were harmed, and Israel's foreign ministry said the embassy was closed at the time.

Serbian officials characterised the incident as terrorism. Dačić said "there are now all indications that the motives relate to terrorism" and pointed to individuals already known to security services linked to the ultra-conservative Wahhabi movement. Authorities identified the attacker as a 25-year-old Serbian national who had converted to Islam, and another person was arrested near the scene as police investigated possible wider ties. Vučić framed it as a "terrorist attack against Serbia." The Islamic State later claimed responsibility through its al-Naba newsletter on 4 July 2024; a video attributed to the attacker referenced "Israelis killing Muslims," alluding to the Gaza war.

Serbian authorities consistently classified this as a terrorist act, and reporting points to an Islamist-extremist motive linked to an individual who had converted to Islam and moved in Wahhabi circles, with the Islamic State subsequently claiming the attack and a video tying it to the Gaza conflict. There is no credible indication of state-directed or hybrid-warfare involvement. Some details, including the precise degree of any wider network or the firmness of the ISIS claim, remained under investigation, so the exact organisational backing should be treated as not fully established.