The Hague giving no info about security measures for Israel, Iran, Lebanon embassies

THE HAGUE - The municipality of The Hague would not say anything about whether any extra security measures will be taken to protect the Israel, Iran, and Lebanon embassies. "We always do what is necessary. Those measures are not the same for every embassy. But we will not comment about how and what we will do and will also not say whether the measures have been increased," said a spokesperson for The Hague mayor Jan van Zanen. 

In February, The Hague reported that "additional safety measures" were taken at the Israeli embassy on the Johan de Wittlaan, which is not far from the Catshuis. The building was sealed with black screens, and an emergency order was called for the nearby area. Officers were allowed to search and send away people near the embassy building. Traffic was diverted onto one-half of the road. The Hague barriers were removed after a few weeks. 

This came after a threat "which had to be taken very seriously," said Van Zanen. The fact that these measures were made public was because they were "so visible" that they had to be communicated, the municipality now says. 

A few days after the barriers were put in place, a suspicious package was found at the Israeli ambassador's residence on Alexander Gogelweg, not far from the embassy. It turned out to be a false alarm. A delivery person had accidentally left a package for the neighbors at the wrong address. 

The Israeli ambassador's official residence is not far from his diplomatic post. The Iranian embassy is around a kilometer away, on the Duinweg. The embassy of Lebanon is on the Frederikstraat, near the center of The Hague. 

Israel began a ground offensive in neighboring country Lebanon in the evening from Monday into the early hours on Tuesday. The attack is aimed at the militant movement Hezbollah. Earlier air strikes saw the group's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, be killed. Hezbollah was supported by Iran, who fired rockets toward Israel on Tuesday night. 

There were two explosions near the Israeli embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Wednesday morning. Nobody was injured in the incidents. 

The Danish police have said very little about the explosions. It is unknown how heavy the explosions were or whether damage was caused. They also did not know whether this had anything to do with the Israeli embassy.




Share