EU debates how to handle rising security challenges amid Israel-Hamas conflict

Police officers stand guard in front of the building complex of the Kahal Adass Jisroel community, which houses a synagogue, a children’s nursery and a community centre, in Berlin on Wednesday (Markus Schreiber/AP)

European Union (EU) interior ministers met to discuss how to manage the impact of the Israel-Hamas conflict on the bloc – after a firebomb assault on a Berlin synagogue and killings in Belgium and France by suspected Islamist extremists.

Sweden hosted a meeting of ministers from eight countries, among them Germany, Belgium and France, focussed on how to handle incidents where people burn the Muslim holy book, the Koran.