Security authorities vigilant after tip from foreign agencies about possible attempt on Israeli targets
The National Intelligence Service (EYP) and counterterrorism authorities have been placed on heightened alert following a warning that arrived in Athens from foreign security services about a possible attempt to hit a target of Israeli interest in Greece.
The latest developments with the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh have raised the alarm about possible reprisal attacks in third countries.
EYP reportedly has an open line of communication with foreign counterparts and is closely cooperating with Cyprus, where Iran has also tried to carry out a terrorist attack – with the most recent case recorded in December 2023.
“The level of vigilance has increased,” an official at the Ministry of Citizen Protection confirmed to Kathimerini, while officials from the country’s intelligence and security services have confirmed the transmission of information from abroad about a possible attack within Greek borders.
The assessments of Greek and foreign officials converge on the possibility that in the near future there will be an attempt to retaliate with an attack against an Israeli target, not on the territory of Israel, but in a third country.
For some foreign services, Greece is included among the candidate countries. However, according to competent sources, there is no clear information about an attack against a specific target or on a specific date.
There is also concern about the possibility of foreign nationals attempting to transit Greece with the aim of carrying out an attack in another country.
Plans and attempted attacks against targets of Israeli interest in Athens were recorded twice in 2023-24.
The first of these was in March 2023, when the counterterror department in collaboration with the EYP and Israel’s Mossad arrested two people – Pakistani nationals – accused of planning to attack the synagogue in Monastiraki, in central Athens.
The operation was allegedly coordinated by Iran.
Israel has even issued an arrest warrant for a Pakistani national who was on Iranian soil at the time of the investigation.
The second case was recorded in May and June 2024 with low-intensity arson attacks against an Israeli hotel in Monastiraki, but also the synagogue in the same area.
