Australian police foil antisemitic attack involving explosives

Australian police said on Wednesday they had foiled a planned antisemitic attack after discovering a caravan containing explosives in an outer Sydney suburb in New South Wales state.

The caravan was discovered on January 19 in Dural, a suburb some 36 kms northwest of the centre of Sydney, Deputy Police Commissioner David Hudson told a news conference.

"That caravan contained an amount of explosives and some indication that those explosives might be used in some form of antisemitic attack," he told a news conference.

The threat had been fully contained and there is no further threat to the Jewish community, he added.

Hudson said arrests had been made but did not disclose how many or what the charges were.

Australia has suffered a spate of antisemitic incidents in recent months, with attacks on synagogues, buildings and cars since the beginning of the Israel-Gaza war in late 2023.