Police line in Germany
Police line in GermanyiStock

Four people were arrested in Germany on suspicion of planning an attack on a synagogue in the city of Hagen on Yom Kippur.

One of the detainees is a 16-year-old Syrian boy. Police have described the plot as "Islamist."

The Yom Kippur evening services were cancelled at the synagogue Wednesday night as police cordoned off the building.

Armin Laschet, Minister-President of the North Rhine-Westphalia region, stated that “it appears that prior to today on Yom Kippur, an Islamist motivated attack was averted."

Laschet added: “We will do everything we can to clarify which networks may have been behind.”

North Rhine-Westphalia Interior Minister Herbert Reul said there was "serious" and "concrete" intelligence that an attack was planned on the synagogue over the Yom Kippur fast.

A neo-Nazi gunman attempted to break into a synagogue in the German city of Halle on Yom Kippur in 2019. The shooter killed two people outside the building after failing to break in.