Two Swedish men have gone on trial in Copenhagen on terrorism charges over a grenade attack near Israel’s embassy in the Danish capital in October 2024.
The defendants, now aged 18 and 21, are accused under Denmark’s anti-terror legislation, as well as with aggravated assault and attempted murder, after two hand grenades exploded close to the Israeli mission in the Hellerup district in the early hours of 2 October 2024.
At the opening of the six-day trial, the 18-year-old admitted throwing two grenades but denied that the Israeli embassy was his target. His lawyer, Jakob Buch-Jepsen, told the court that his client pleaded guilty to aggravated assault but rejected the terrorism charge. The defendant, dressed in a white T-shirt, “admits to throwing two grenades… but he did not throw them at the embassy,” the lawyer said. The 21-year-old co-accused, who appeared in a black puffer jacket, pleaded not guilty to all counts.
Prosecutors allege the pair travelled to the vicinity of the embassy with five hand grenades, two of which were thrown in the direction of the mission. According to the indictment, the devices instead struck a nearby residential building and detonated, causing damage but no injuries. Police later recovered one unexploded grenade in a garden, on which investigators say they found DNA belonging to the younger defendant.
At the time of the incident the two suspects were 16 and 18. They were arrested later that day at Copenhagen Central Station as they prepared to board a train to Amsterdam. A third young Swede was also initially detained in connection with the blasts, but the current case concerns only the two defendants before the Copenhagen District Court. The trial days are spread over several months and proceedings are scheduled to conclude on 3 February.
The Copenhagen explosions took place only hours after shots were fired at the Israeli embassy in Stockholm on 1 October 2024. The same 18-year-old is also being prosecuted in Sweden over that incident, in which the Israeli mission in the Swedish capital was allegedly targeted but no one was injured. A separate trial in Stockholm has yet to begin.
According to reports in Swedish media, the younger defendant told investigators he had been recruited as a teenager by the Foxtrot criminal network, one of Sweden’s most prominent gangs. He is said to have claimed that he carried out violent missions for the group, but did not intend to attack Israeli diplomatic facilities. The court in Copenhagen has yet to determine how far such claims will be examined as part of the Danish case.
The blasts near the Israeli embassy were investigated by Danish police and the country’s security and intelligence service against a backdrop of rising tensions in the Middle East, as Iran and Israel exchanged attacks in late 2024. No injuries were reported, but security around Jewish and Israeli sites in Denmark was reinforced. In July 2025, police again cordoned off the area around the embassy in Hellerup after a suspicious package was delivered, reflecting continuing concern over threats to Israeli diplomatic premises.
The case also comes amid broader scrutiny of links between Swedish gangs and Iran. In May 2024 Sweden’s security service, Säpo, stated that the Iranian state was using criminal networks in Sweden to carry out violent acts against dissidents and against Israeli and Jewish interests, an assessment later echoed by other European and US authorities. Tehran denies directing such operations. The Foxtrot network and its leader, Rawa Majid, have since been sanctioned by the United Kingdom and the United States over alleged involvement in Iran-linked plots against Israeli and Jewish targets in Europe.
If convicted of terrorism, the two Swedish defendants in Copenhagen face lengthy prison sentences. For now, both remain in custody while the court hears evidence from police, forensic experts and witnesses from the affected residential building. A verdict is expected shortly after the trial’s scheduled conclusion in early February.
