Australian police say they have foiled a planned antisemitic attack after discovering a caravan containing explosives alongside a list of Jewish targets.
Police found enough explosives to make a bomb with a blast of around 130ft (40m) hidden in a caravan in the Sydney suburb of Dural on 19 January, New South Wales deputy police commissioner David Hudson told a news conference on Wednesday.
The substance discovered was Powergel, an explosive which is often used in the mining industry.
Officers also found a list of Jewish targets, which Mr Hudson refused to identify but said the relevant members of the community have been made aware.
Mr Hudson said it marked a dangerous “escalation” in a campaign of antisemitic arson and graffiti incidents in major cities in recent months.
It follows an arson attack on Melbourne’s Adass Israel Synagogue in December which injured one person and caused extensive damage – and a childcare centre being set alight in east Sydney on 21 January.
Image: The Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne after it was attacked in December 2024. Pic: AP
“This is certainly an escalation. The use of explosives … have the potential to cause a great deal of damage,” Mr Hudson said.
New South Wales premier Chris Minns confirmed counterterrorism authorities are investigating.
“This is the discovery of a potential mass casualty event. There’s only one way of calling it out and that is terrorism. That’s what we’re very worried about,” he said.
“This would strike terror into the community, particularly the Jewish community, and it must be met with the full resources of the government.”
Image: The explosives found in Dural mark an escalation in a campaign of antisemitic incidents in Australia’s largest cities
Several arrests have been made – but not in relation to the explosives discovered, Mr Hudson added.
Rise in attacks since Israel-Hamas war
Australia‘s largest cities Sydney and Melbourne, which are home to 85% of the country’s Jewish population, have experienced a rise in antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents since the Israel-Hamas war broke out in 2023.
They include attacks on synagogues, buildings, businesses and cars.
Laws were passed that year banning public displays of terror group symbols.
On 7 October 2023, Hamas gunmen launched an attack on southern Israel, killing 1,200 people.
More than 47,000 people have since been killed in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry.
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