Israel identifies new terror group 'Ashab al-Yamin' as responsible for recent spate of attacks on European Jewish sites

Israel's Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism released new details regarding a new terror group, Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyyah, on Sunday, after it claimed responsibility for several attacks on Jewish sites in Europe over the past few days. 

The group, whose name means “The Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right,” claimed responsibility for attacks on a Jewish school in Amsterdam and a synagogue in Rotterdam. It is also believed to be behind a similar attack on a synagogue in Liège, Belgium, last Monday. 

The ministry released a special report which noted that the attacks appear to be part of a coordinated pattern of intimidation and psychological warfare against Jewish communities in Europe. 

Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli said the recent attacks are not isolated events, even though the group appears to rely on local cells or “lone wolf” operatives. 

“The events in Europe are part of a troubling pattern,” Chikli said. “Terror networks linked to the Iranian axis are trying to expand their arena of activity into European cities and Jewish communities.” 

While no one was injured and damage was minimal in the attacks, officials have expressed concern about the possibility of a new terror group, while Jewish residents in the cities are living with a heightened sense of fear. 

Dutch police arrested four youths between the ages of 17 and 19 in connection with the Rotterdam synagogue attack, and police were looking for two youths in connection with the Amsterdam attack. 

A group calling itself "The Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right" appears to claim responsibility for a bombing on a synagogue in Liege, Belgium on Monday.
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My initial impression is that the logo is a near carbon copy of terrorist groups associated with the… pic.twitter.com/oowi7J3uIK

— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) March 11, 2026

Younes Saramifar, a political anthropologist at Amsterdam’s VU University, told Dutch News that the group was “completely unknown” until this month. 

“Based on what I have seen, this is absolutely not an organized and coherent group,” he said, adding that mistakes in the language of statements accompanying the videos suggest those involved are not native Arabic speakers.

Despite this, videos of the three attacks were uploaded and quickly shared on Telegram and other social media channels associated with Shi’ite groups, indicating that there may be a link to Iran’s proxy strategy. 

The logo used by the group in its videos and online propaganda depicts an arm holding a rifle in front of an image of a globe. This logo bears similarities to the logos of Iranian proxy groups like Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the IRGC in Iran. All feature a similar image of a hand holding a rifle pointing to the right in front of a globe. 

On Sunday, the group claimed to have carried out an attack on the World Trade Center in Amsterdam with an improvised explosive device (IED). 

A group identifying itself as Ashab al-Yamin— the same organization that claimed last week’s attacks on Jewish institutions in Europe — said it attacked the World Trade Center in Amsterdam on Sunday with what appears to be an IED.

"In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the… pic.twitter.com/jh5VkKTO0T

— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) March 16, 2026

Joe Truzman, a senior research analyst at Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), told The Jerusalem Post that several differences in the statements released by the group and those of other Iranian proxies make it difficult to know if the group is a legitimate terror group, or “some criminal or antisemitic group that's trying to cover its tracks.” 

However, he noted that Iran has a history of using various proxy groups. 

“Iran has been operating extensively, not only just in the Middle East, but in Europe as well, and obviously, Latin America, so Iran, the IRGC, they have the capabilities to do something like this,” Truzman explained.