Violent Incidents in Reaction to the Gaza War

Synagogues, Jewish schools, community centers, cemeteries, private homes, and public gatherings were among the targets of violence documented after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack and the ensuing war in Israel and Gaza.[1][4] The incidents included shootings, stabbings, beatings, arson, attempted firebombings, and crowds searching for Jewish or Israeli people to attack.[1][3] Their geographic reach extended across Europe and North America, with additional cases recorded in North Africa, Central Asia, and Australia.[1][5]

Some attacks incorporated explicit references to Palestine or Gaza, including the fatal shooting outside Washington's Capital Jewish Museum and an armed threat against an Albany synagogue.[3][6] Others involved direct identification of potential victims as Jewish, such as the Makhachkala airport riot and an assault on a Jewish tourist in Munich.[1][7] Reports also documented violence affecting Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim communities during the same period, including the killing of a Palestinian-American child in Illinois and the shooting of three young men of Palestinian descent in Vermont.[8][9]

The broader environment included sharp increases in reported antisemitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian racism.[2] Within the antisemitic cases selected for documentation, targeting Jews or Jewish sites, using antisemitic slurs, and invoking anti-Jewish tropes distinguished the incidents from political expression directed at Israel.[1]

During October 7–25, 2023, a compilation of international monitoring figures recorded a 500 percent increase in antisemitic events worldwide compared with the corresponding dates in 2022, including a 330 percent increase in violent antisemitic incidents.[10] The compilation brought together community and monitoring reports, including 312 incidents in the United States during October 7–23, of which 190 were classified as directly related to the war; 600 incidents in the United Kingdom during the same interval; and 202 incidents in Germany during October 7–15.[10]

An earlier preliminary American count recorded 107 antisemitic incidents from October 7 through October 16, at least 43 related to Israel, compared with 86 incidents and nine Israel-related incidents in the equivalent period a year earlier.[11] Examples from the early weeks included a Jewish child pushed in Brooklyn after two men asked whether he was Jewish, followed the next day by people firing an air gun at Jews from a nearby roof.[11] An Israeli student at Columbia University was struck with a stick during an argument about the war, while a pro-Palestinian demonstrator in Indianapolis attacked someone carrying an Israeli flag.[11]

In Germany, civil-society reporting offices recorded 994 antisemitic incidents between October 7 and November 9, an average of 29 per day, including three cases of potentially deadly extreme violence.[12] The increase occurred against an existing upward trend: an international study reported that antisemitic incidents had already been increasing before the war.[13]

At approximately 3:45 a.m. on October 18, 2023, two Molotov cocktails were thrown toward Berlin's Kahal Adass Jisroel complex, which housed a synagogue, kindergarten, and community center.[4][14] The devices broke on the pavement and went out without causing damage; nobody was injured.[4][7] By the end of the year, prosecutors had announced neither suspects nor arrests.[7] Other anti-Jewish acts in Berlin during this period included tearing down or burning Israeli flags and painting Stars of David on buildings where Jews lived.[14] A few days after the synagogue attack, flares were thrown at a Jewish family's home in North Rhine-Westphalia.[15]

In Vienna, two Molotov cocktails were thrown at a Jewish community center that also housed a synagogue, but missed their targets; a kosher shop's window was also smashed.[16] Around October 31–November 1, the ceremonial hall in the Jewish section of Vienna's Central Cemetery was set on fire, and its outside wall was marked with a swastika and the word “Hitler.”[4] Additional reporting described fires at two buildings belonging to Vienna's old Jewish cemetery during October and November, together with swastikas and antisemitic messages on the walls.[16]

In Tunisia, hundreds of men protesting Israel's Gaza campaign attacked a Jewish holy site in Al-Hammah on October 17, setting fires, vandalizing the site, and damaging its walls.[1] The crowd was reacting particularly to claims that Israel had struck Al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital in Gaza; those claims were subsequently described as debunked in the incident account.[1] The attack frightened members of Tunisia's small Jewish community.[1] An Israeli government compilation separately dated the destruction and burning of a synagogue near Gabes to October 18.[10]

A Jewish cultural center under construction in Nalchik, Russia, was set on fire and marked with “Death to Jews.”[4] In Madrid, the main synagogue was defaced the day after October 7 with “Free Palestine” beside a crossed-out Star of David.[4] Another compilation described an attempted attack on a North Caucasus hotel where Jews were reportedly believed to be sheltering, as well as a physical attack on a Chabad couple in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.[10]

Montreal's Congregation Beth Tikvah synagogue and Federation CJA office were targeted in an attempted firebombing on November 7, 2023.[17] Bullets were fired at the doors of two Jewish schools on November 9, and a Montreal Jewish school was shot at again on November 12, its second such attack in less than a week.[17] Additional reporting described gunfire at a Montreal synagogue and two Jewish schools, a synagogue firebombing, and a violent confrontation between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian students at Concordia University that injured a student and security personnel and led to an arrest.[18]

On October 29, 2023, hundreds of people entered Makhachkala airport in Dagestan after learning that a flight from Tel Aviv was arriving, reaching the runway and searching for Jewish passengers.[19] A Telegram channel had urged people to meet the flight, with messages calling on rioters to “avenge Gaza.”[19] Members of the crowd rushed the airfield, climbed onto the aircraft, and surrounded a man while demanding identification; one participant carried a sign accusing the arrivals of being child killers.[1] People also checked vehicles and called for harm to Israelis, while the passengers were secured at the airport.[20]

Contemporary reports recorded 20 injuries, two serious, and the identification of about 150 participants and arrest of 60 people; passengers were not reported injured.[1][19] Later reporting stated that 30 security personnel and police officers had been attacked, 23 injured, and 142 suspects indicted.[21] It also reported a June 2025 conviction of participant Omar Zhanburuaev, with imprisonment described as between five years and six years and eight months.[21] A review of religious freedom in Russia identified the airport mob among examples of rising domestic antisemitism that authorities had not adequately addressed.[22]

On November 4, 2023, a Jewish woman around 30 was stabbed in the abdomen at her Lyon home, and a large swastika was found on her door.[23] She was hospitalized with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, and police treated the case as attempted murder.[23] In December, an assailant entered a Paris daycare and threatened its Jewish director with a knife.[5] Stars of David were also spray-painted on buildings in Paris and other French cities after October 7.[1]

In Munich on December 14, six people beat a Jewish tourist wearing a kippah after asking whether he was Jewish; the victim was hospitalized and police investigated.[7] A week earlier, two women assaulted and robbed a Jewish woman in North London, kicking her in the head while she was unconscious.[24] Police said her appearance would have made her Jewish identity obvious and expressed significant concern that she had been targeted on that basis.[24]

Australian examples recorded between October and November included schoolgirls in Sydney having food thrown at them, a Jewish cyclist carrying an Israeli flag being pushed from his bicycle and kicked and punched in Melbourne, and a Jewish man assaulted by several people in a Sydney park.[5] The reporting counted three assaults during those months, compared with two in the corresponding period of 2022.[5]

Following the November 7, 2024, Ajax–Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer match in Amsterdam, groups organized through WhatsApp attacked Israeli fans and demanded identification from passersby to determine whether they were Israeli or Jewish.[25] Some messages referred to a “Jew hunt,” and videos showed Israelis fleeing attackers; some hid for hours or reportedly jumped into canals to escape.[3][25] Five people received hospital treatment, while Israeli officials reported 10 injured Israelis.[25] The attacks followed two days of incidents that included Maccabi supporters chanting anti-Arab songs, vandalizing a taxi, and burning a Palestinian flag.[25]

On May 21, 2025, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim were shot and killed outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., after an American Jewish Committee event.[3] The gunman shouted “Free Palestine” during his arrest and reportedly told police, “I did it for Palestine. I did it for Gaza.”[3] He also allegedly had a history of expressing support on social media for violence against Israelis.[3]

On June 1, 2025, an attacker used a flamethrower and Molotov cocktails against a peaceful gathering in Boulder, Colorado, calling attention to hostages held in Gaza.[3] He shouted anti-Zionist threats, and more than a dozen people were set ablaze.[3] At least seven people were injured, including an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor; an 82-year-old woman died a month later from injuries sustained in the attack.[3]

An earlier armed incident occurred at Temple Israel Synagogue in Albany on December 7, 2023.[6] A man traveled from Schenectady, fired two shotgun rounds into the air, yelled “Free Palestine!,” and tried to remove an Israeli flag outside the building.[6] He subsequently pleaded guilty to civil-rights and firearm charges related to threats against the synagogue.[6]

Violence also struck Palestinian-American families and students.[8][9] On October 14, 2023, six-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume was stabbed to death in Illinois, and his mother, Hanaan Shahin, was seriously injured.[8] Federal authorities announced a hate-crimes investigation and warned of fears of hate-fueled violence among Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian communities.[8]

Three young men of Palestinian descent were shot in Burlington, Vermont, on November 25, 2023.[9] Local and federal authorities investigated the shooting, with federal prosecutors assessing whether a federal crime had occurred.[9]

In Brussels on October 16, 2023, a gunman killed two Swedish soccer fans and wounded another.[26] Analysis connected his apparent targeting of Swedish nationals principally with Qur’an burnings in Sweden, while his social-media posts about the Dome of the Rock suggested that Gaza may also have been a contributing concern.[26]

Germany's preliminary official figures recorded 5,154 antisemitism-motivated crimes in 2023, an increase of 95 percent from 2022, with 56 people injured; 3,789 crimes occurred in the fourth quarter.[7] A separate civil-society reporting system documented 4,782 antisemitic incidents, more than 80 percent above 2022, including 2,787 after October 7—more than its entire previous year's total.[15] Around two-thirds of its annual cases of extreme violence, assaults, and threats occurred after October 7.[15] Germany also recorded 1,464 anti-Muslim crimes, up 140 percent, with 53 injuries; 935 occurred in the fourth quarter.[7]

In Austria, 76 antisemitic incidents were recorded in the two weeks after October 7, a 300 percent increase over the corresponding period a year earlier.[16] The annual total reached 1,147, compared with 719 in 2022, including 18 physical assaults and 18 threats.[16] The daily average rose from 1.55 between January 1 and October 7 to 8.31 between October 7 and December 31.[16] Anti-Muslim monitoring separately recorded more incidents in the month after October 7 than during January through September combined, including physical and verbal attacks, particularly against women wearing headscarves.[16]

The United Kingdom recorded at least 893 antisemitic incidents between October 7 and 31, including 40 assaults.[1] This was the highest total for any 25-day period since recording began in 1984 and represented a 609 percent increase over the equivalent period in 2022.[1] The October 7–December 31 total reached 2,699 incidents, while the full-year count was 4,103, including 266 assaults.[24]

France recorded 1,676 antisemitic incidents in 2023, compared with 436 in 2022; 1,242 occurred in October–December.[5] Physical-violence incidents increased from 43 to 85.[5] Almost 60 percent targeted people through physical violence, threatening behavior, or targeted letters and leaflets.[5] In French-speaking Switzerland, 944 incidents were recorded, compared with 562 in 2022, including 557 after October 7.[27] Among the latter were 131 reports involving verbal abuse, property damage, or situations involving young students.[27]

Montreal police recorded 73 acts of hate against the Jewish community in 2023, including two shooting attacks targeting a yeshiva and a Molotov cocktail thrown at a synagogue.[5] Toronto police recorded 132 antisemitic hate-crime incidents that year, 56 between October 7 and December 17.[5]

The full-year American audit counted 8,873 incidents, including 161 assaults, with increases of 140 percent and 45 percent respectively.[28] Of 5,204 incidents recorded after October 7, 52 percent referenced Israel, Zionism, or Palestine.[28]

The 2024 American audit recorded 9,354 incidents, including 196 assaults affecting 250 victims.[29] Fifty-eight percent contained elements related to Israel or Zionism, and 2,596 of more than 5,000 tracked anti-Israel rallies included antisemitic messaging.[29] Congregants also experienced harassment and sometimes assault at or near Jewish institutions.[29]

An international study reported approximately 23,000 antisemitic incidents in 2023 across countries with large Jewish populations, compared with 11,113 in 2022, a 106 percent increase.[13] Its monthly average rose from 972 before October 7 to about 4,500 afterward.[13] Early reporting also recorded 774 complaints of Islamophobia in the United States during the first several weeks of the conflict, compared with 63 reported incidents in August.[2]

A May 30, 2024, joint American intelligence bulletin assessed that antisemitic beliefs and violent messaging, exacerbated by the Israel-Hamas conflict, were drivers of domestic and transnational extremist activity.[30] It found that reactions to October 7 and Israeli military actions in Gaza had prompted violent extremist plots and attacks, principally involving homegrown violent extremists in the United States and individuals abroad.[30] The assessment was quoted in July State Department remarks, which did not identify individual plots or attacks.[30]

Law-enforcement outcomes varied across the documented cases: the Albany synagogue case produced guilty pleas, the Makhachkala riot led to numerous indictments, and the Berlin firebombing remained without announced suspects or arrests at the end of 2023.[6][7] Dutch prosecutors ruled out terrorism charges in the Amsterdam attacks, while indicating that some suspects could face antisemitism-related charges.[31] The chief prosecutor described the suspects' apparent motivation as anger, frustration, and sadness over Israel and Gaza, rather than an intention to instill fear in a specific group.[31]

The recorded incidents do not constitute a comprehensive global inventory, and a connection in time does not establish that every case was caused by the war.[1][7] Some antisemitic incidents appeared primarily motivated by events in Gaza, while others were opportunistic.[1] Initial reporting did not establish the Burlington shooter's motive or expressly establish a Gaza-war motive in the Albany case.[6][9] In Lyon, prosecutors identified antisemitism as a possible motive, while a local Jewish representative urged caution pending judicial determination.[23] The Brussels killings likewise had mixed possible motivations.[26]

Overall incident totals are not counts of physical attacks alone and cannot simply be combined across reporting systems.[5][10] The American 2023 audit changed methodology after October 7 to include some anti-Zionist rhetoric and activism and certain calls for “resistance,” adding 1,350 incidents.[5][28] Without that change, the annual total was 7,523, still 103 percent above 2022; the annual figure of 161 assaults was not a separate count of assaults after October 7.[5][28] Differences in definitions, reporting periods, and categories therefore matter when interpreting the scale of violence.[5][10]