Australian police said on Wednesday that they had thwarted a planned anti -Semitic attack after discovering a caravan containing explosives, in an escalation of threats against the Jewish community that the authorities called terrorism.
The caravan was discovered on January 19 in Dural, a suburb about 36 kilometers (22 miles) northwest of the center of Sydney, deputy commissioner of the southern southern police, David Hudson, said at a conference press.
“This caravan contained a quantity of explosives and a certain indication that these explosives could be used in a form of anti-Semitic attack,” he said at a press conference.
The threat had been fully contained and there was no more threat to the Jewish community, he added.
Hudson said arrests had been processed but had not revealed how or what the charges were.
South South South Prime Minister Chris Minns said more than 100 police investigates the incident, as part of a joint terrorism operation involving the state and the federal police.
“This is the discovery of a potential event of mass victims. There is only one way to call it, and it is terrorism, “he said.
Australia has undergone a series of anti-Semitic incidents in recent months, with attacks against synagogues, buildings and cars since the start of the War of Israel-Gaza at the end of 2023.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, whose center-left labor party faces a re-election in the polls that must be held in May, was criticized by the opposition on the increase in anti-Semitic incidents in the country.
The government says it has taken additional measures to protect the Jewish community, including more funding and a federal working group to investigate anti -Semitic incidents.
