Belgium deploys military to protect Jewish sites after synagogue attack

Belgium is stepping up security for its Jewish community after a recent attack on a synagogue heightened fears across Europe, as a new terrorist group suspected of having links to Iran claimed responsibility for a series of strikes on Jewish targets across the continent.

Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyya, translated as “Islamic Movement of Right-wing Companions,” said it has carried out several attacks recently, including the March 9 explosion at a synagogue in Liège, Belgium, according to a Fox News Digital report. The group also claimed responsibility for an arson attack on a synagogue in Rotterdam, Belgium, and an explosive attack on a Jewish school in Amsterdam. A fourth incident at a Jewish site in Greece has been linked to the group by several sources, although details about that attack remain limited.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said on March 15 that “a jihadist group linked to an Iranian proxy” was behind the attacks, adding that “the IRGC continues to sponsor and export terrorism across the world,” referring to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

NYC REINFORCES PATROLS IN “INCREASED THREAT ENVIRONMENT,” AFTER GUNMAN RAMS TRUCK AT MICHIGAN SYNAGOGUE

U.S. Ambassador to Belgium Bill White visits the site of a synagogue damaged by an explosion early Monday, in Liege, Belgium, March 9, 2026. (Yves Herman/Reuters)

Belgian Interior Minister Bernard Quintin called the explosion outside a synagogue in the eastern city of Liège a “vile anti-Semitic act” directly targeting the country’s Jewish community.

Prime Minister Bart De Wever responded Monday morning on

Joe Truzman, senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and editor of FDD’s Long War Journal, told Fox News Digital that the war in Iran likely “forced the group, whoever was responsible, to start launching these attacks.” Truzman said he “suspects[s] this organization is led” and that there is “an entity behind it”.

In response to the attack in Liège, Belgian authorities announced reinforced protection measures.

“To protect our Jewish community, we deploy military personnel to ensure security on our streets. The security of every citizen must be guaranteed,” Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken wrote on Monday. “Anti-Semitism and hatred against Jews will never be tolerated. We will always strongly oppose this.”

CANADA’S CARNEY UNDER PRESSURE TO ACT AFTER SYNAGOGUES SHOT IN LATEST ANTISEMITIC INCIDENTS

Police secure the site near a synagogue damaged by an explosion Monday morning, in Liège, Belgium, March 9, 2026. (Yves Herman/Reuters)

The move drew praise from U.S. officials.

“Last week, I urged Belgian authorities to adequately protect Jewish communities – thank you, Defense Minister Francken and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Prévot, for intensifying security measures,” wrote the ambassador, Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism at the State Department, adding that he looked forward to working with his Belgian counterparts “to safeguard the Jewish community.”

Deputy Secretary of State Sarah B. Rogers also praised the decision, calling it a rare example of action rather than rhetoric.

“We hear a lot about fighting anti-Semitism and other forms of hate – but it’s satisfying to see concrete actions, like this, to protect the public square from brutal terrorist violence targeting Jews and others,” Rogers wrote on X. “Freedom in the tweets, order in the streets.”

Belgium has long maintained tight security around Jewish institutions following past attacks, including the 2014 shooting at the Jewish Museum in Brussels that killed four people – one of the deadliest anti-Semitic attacks in the country’s modern history.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Two women embrace near the scene of a terrorist attack outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Manchester, England, October 2, 2025. (Christophe Furlong/Getty Images)

Yet Jewish organizations warn that the current situation reflects a new and dangerous escalation.

“This criminal act against a Jewish house of worship is deeply alarming and part of a broader and worrying rise in anti-Semitic incidents and violent extremism across Europe,” the World Jewish Congress said in a March 10 statement.

Fox News Digital reporter Beth Bailey and Reuters contributed to this report.