German authorities said Sunday that they have arrested a Libyan national with suspected ties to the extremist Islamic State group who was allegedly planning a firearms attack on the Israeli Embassy.

Police and other security forces detained the man on Saturday evening in Bernau, a town just outside of Berlin, and searched his home there, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.

The prosecutor�s office said the suspect was a Libyan national whom they identified only as Omar A.

�He intended to carry out a high-profile attack with firearms on the Israeli Embassy in Berlin,� the statement said. In his planning, the statement added, �the accused exchanged information with a member of IS in a messenger chat.�

Security forces also searched the home of another person who is considered a witness and not a suspect, the prosecutor’s statement said.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said that German security authorities “struck in time to thwart possible plans to attack the Israeli Embassy in Berlin.”

�This shows that protecting Jewish and Israeli institutions in our country is vital and of the utmost importance to us,� she added.

The suspect brought on Sunday before an investigating judge at the country�s highest court, the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe.

Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor thanked the German security authorities �for ensuring the security of our embassy,� German news agency dpa reported.

News of the case first came from the Bild newspaper, which reported that a heavily armed elite police unit stormed the suspect�s home in Bernau. It said German authorities acted after receiving a tipoff from an unspecified foreign intelligence agency.

�We are acting with the utmost vigilance and attention in view of the high threat posed by Islamist, antisemitic and anti-Israel violence,� Faeser said.

According to Bild, the suspect is a 28-year-old who arrived in Germany in November 2022 and applied for asylum. Dpa reported that his asylum request was rejected.

Justice Minister Marco Buschmann also warned Sunday of a �very serious� threat of Islamist terrorism in Germany. �Israeli institutions are particularly often the target of terrorists,� he told dpa.

A sharp increase in antisemitic incidents has been recorded in Germany since Hamas’ attack on Israeli on Oct. 7, 2023, which triggered the ongoing wars in the Middle East.

(AP)