Germany has stepped up security measures at Israeli, US and Jewish institutions throughout the country in reaction to the mounting violence in the Middle East, state interior ministries and police officials said Friday.
The increased vigilance was also due to a recent string of right-wing extremist attacks in Germany, officials said.
"The Berlin police are watching the developments in the Middle East closely and are in constant contact with all security services," Klaus Schubert, police department spokesman in the German capital, told AFP.
"The security measures outside of American and Israeli buildings were reinforced Thursday, including both the number of personnel and materiel used," he said.
The capital's interior ministry said police had been monitoring the situation more closely since October 6, when a group of 4,000 Palestinians held a peaceful anti-Israel demonstration in front of city hall.
Christoph Holstein, a spokesman of the Hamburg interior ministry, said security at 10 Jewish and Israeli institutions in the northern city had been tightened since Thursday and that the sites were now being patrolled around the clock - BERLIN (AFP)
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