Swedish police have cordoned off an area in Stockholm after a patrol heard suspected gunshots, they said on Friday, with the Israeli embassy located in the closed-off area.
Police declined to comment on whether there was a link between the suspected gunshots and the Israeli embassy, Swedish news agency TT reported.
“A police patrol at Strandvagen in Stockholm heard bangs and suspected there had been a shooting,” police said on their website shortly after midnight, adding that the affected area lay between the capital’s Djurgarden Bridge, its Nobel Park and the Oscar Church.
“In connection with the ongoing forensic investigation, findings have been made that strengthen the suspicions that a shooting took place,” they said.
Police said an investigation into suspected serious weapons crime had been launched and that they held several people in connection with the incident.
A prosecutor’s office spokesperson later in the day said none of them remained in custody.
The Israeli embassy could not immediately be reached for comment. But authorities probably suspect that the ongoing war in Gaza could spill over into Sweden given its Muslim population of over 800,000.
Sympathy for the plight of the Palestinians is very likely widespread and there have been demonstrations calling on Israel to stop the war. Climate activist Greta Thunberg joined the protests a week ago and Sweden had declared in March that it was resuming aid to Gaza.
Stockholm’s action was in response to dozens of countries halting aid shipments to Gaza following Israeli allegations that staffers of the UN Relief & Works Agency took part in last October’s Hamas attack on the Jewish state.
The attack killed 1,200 people with over 200 taken hostage. Although some have been released, talks to exchange the remaining hostages for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons have deadlocked. Hamas wants a permanent end to the war, Israel say no.
