Seven people arrested in Belgium in connection with the March explosion outside a synagogue

Yossi Lempkowicz

2 hours ago

Last month, a man suspected of ordering the attack had already been arrested in Turkey by U.S. authorities. The man, 32-year-old Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, was extradited to the U.S. He is accused of playing a central role in coordinating an international campaign of attacks carried out on behalf of Kata’ib Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed armed group based in Iraq and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Seven people have been arrested in connection with the investigation into the explosion last March outside a synagogue in Liège, a city in the south east of Belgium. A terrorism case has been opened by the federal prosecutor’s office.

According to French-speaking public television RTBF reports, several raids were carried out as part of the investigation into the explosio. Law enforcement authorities arrested seven people.

The explosion did not result in any injuries but caused property damage. Surveillance footage showed a car pulling up in front of the synagogue, a man getting out of the vehicle, placing an object in front of the door, and then driving away in a car with a license plate that had been reported stolen.

Last month, a man suspected of ordering the attack had already been arrested in Turkey by U.S. authorities. The man, 32-year-old Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, was extradited to the U.S. He is accused of playing a central role in coordinating an international campaign of attacks carried out on behalf of Kata’ib Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed armed group based in Iraq and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

32-year-old Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, was subsequently extradited to the U.S. He is accused of playing a central role in coordinating an international campaign of attacks carried out on behalf of Kata’ib Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed armed group based in Iraq and the IRGC. U.S. Prosecutors allege Saadi worked closely with the late Qasem Soleimani, the IRGC commander

According to the indictment, he allegedly supervised or attempted to organize attacks against Jewish targets in Europe and Canada, as well as planned attacks in the United States, notably in New York and Los Angeles. Among the incidents cited in the case file is the attack on the synagogue in Liège and similar explosions at Jewish sites in the Netherlands.

Prosecutors allege Saadi worked closely with the late Qasem Soleimani, the IRGC commander whose assassination in a US drone strike in 2020 turned him into a martyr figure among Tehran’s allies.According to US authorities, Saadi sought revenge not merely through rhetoric, but through coordinated violence aimed squarely at Jewish communities and American interests.

On May 13, the synagogue in Liège reopened its doors to serve the tiny Jewish community, during a ceremony attended by, among others, U.S. Ambassador Bill White.