IS supporter (15) planned massacre of Jews in Zurich – indictment reveals details
A 15-year-old IS sympathiser stabbed an Orthodox Jew with 17 knife wounds in Zurich in March 2024. The indictment shows: he had planned weeks earlier to kill as many Jews as possible.
Zurich knife attack on Orthodox Jew: indictment lays bare weeks of planning
On 2 March 2024, a then 15-year-old Swiss stabbed an Orthodox Jew in the street in Zurich and inflicted 17 knife wounds on him. The victim survived after emergency surgery. According to reports, the indictment published this week reveals shocking details about the extent of pre-planning.
The attacker holds both Swiss and Tunisian citizenship – he was born in Tunisia and naturalised at the age of three. His path into extremism ran through crude online networks: initially harmless internet searches turned into martyr fantasies, until the radicalisation culminated in a confession video that he uploaded a few hours before the act.
Bomb plan, steak knife, targeted victim search
According to the indictment, the teenager had planned over weeks to "kill as many Jews as possible". On the internet, he inquired of a like-minded individual about the manufacture of explosives. Because it seemed too complicated to him, he bought a steak knife the day before the attack at the Glatt Centre in Wallisellen. Via social media, he asked an unknown person: "What time do the Jews gather?" His stated goal was to kill Jews at prayer in a synagogue.
On the evening of 2 March, he entered the stairs of a synagogue at 21.20 and attempted to enter whilst streaming everything live. When the door was locked, he said to the camera: "Oh, what a hassle. The door is locked. So I will carry out individual operations."
17 stab wounds – attempt to cut victim's throat
Roughly four minutes and twenty seconds later, he encountered a 50-year-old Orthodox Jew who was on his way to his family. As the victim rang at a house entrance, the teenager fell upon him from behind. He initially aimed at the neck and head, then tried to cut the man's throat.
The victim fled bleeding onto the street and called for help, but the attacker pursued him and did not relent. The struggle only ended on the bonnet of a car standing at a red traffic light, when passers-by overpowered the teenager. The man suffered severe lung injuries and had to undergo emergency surgery.
The entire incident was streamed live. Only after his arrest did police stop the video. While still lying bound on the ground, the teenager repeatedly shouted: "I must kill all Jews."
IS propaganda and violent footage on the smartphone
Investigators found a series of disturbing footage on the accused's mobile phone: shootings, beheadings, burnings, and scenes in which people are run over by a tank. The indictment particularly highlights eleven depictions of violence.
The Swiss-Tunisian is accused, in addition to multiple counts of attempted murder, of distributing pornographic material depicting sexual acts with animals as well as non-actual sexual acts involving minors.
The youth prosecutor is seeking a custodial sentence of one year as well as placement in an educational or treatment facility.
Source: Blick