The city of Odense, Denmark
The city of Odense, DenmarkIsrael News Photo: (file)

Palestinian Authority Arab terrorists attacked a group of young Israelis at a stand in a Danish mall early Wednesday evening.

Local police said the attack took place at approximately 3:20 p.m. at the Rosengirdscentret Center, one of the largest shopping centers in the city of Odense, located about 200 kilometers from Copenhagen.



According to Foreign Ministry spokesman Yossi Levi, an undetermined number of Palestinian Authority gunmen approached the group of young Israelis at a "basta", or stand which sells Dead Sea products and other items from Israel and opened fire "with guns or rifles."

It was not clear how many terrorists, and how many Israelis were involved in the attack. Two Israelis were wounded, one in the leg and the other in the shoulder. "As far as we know, there is no danger to their lives," Levi said, "but we do not know their names or other details at this time."

He added that Foreign Ministry officials in Denmark are in close contact with local authorities there. Very few details of the attack were available, however, and Levi was unable to say whether the terrorists had been caught or had managed to escape. A Danish radio station said the terrorists escaped in a black Audi sedan, which police later found at a nearby college.

Levi made a point of stressing that the Israeli government believes there is a connection between this terrorist attack and the Arab world's opposition to the current military operation in Gaza.

"In the Foreign Ministry, a direct line is drawn between these assaults and the sharp anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish propaganda in the Arab national and international media since the beginning of the operation in Gaza," he said. "We don't have proof, but that is our estimation."

A number of Islamist terrorists have been discovered living in Vollsmose, a suburb of Odense in the past two years, including three former PA residents and a Danish native who became a convert to Islam. All were arrested in 2006 and convicted of plotting to carry out terrorist acts using TATP, a deadly explosive favored by suicide bombers in the Middle East. 

Some 85 percent of the community is populated by Muslim immigrants, many of whom came to the country since 1980 from Iran, Iraq, Somalia and the Palestinian Authority. Estimates vary, but Muslim authorities say their population numbers approximately 300,000 in Denmark, with 115 mosques operating throughout the country.