Montreal police say they have arrested five people, including three minors, who were found with incendiary material early Wednesday morning and are investigating whether their motive may have been linked to the conflict in the Middle East.
The city of Côte-St-Luc said in a statement that one of its public security officers observed a vehicle with suspicious occupants parked near a synagogue early Wednesday morning and called police.
Montreal police say they received that call shortly after 2 a.m. and stopped a suspect vehicle near the corner of Kildare Rd. and Cavendish Blvd.
Inside the vehicle, police say they found incendiary material. The two occupants, ages 20 and 22, were arrested.
Côte-St-Luc said what it described as a “suspicious item” was later found near the synagogue on Mackle Rd.
Police say the call from Côte-St-Luc public security came around 15 minutes after officers stopped another vehicle in the neighbouring Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough and also found incendiary items inside. A 16-year-old and two 17-year-olds were arrested, police say.
The suspects have been released with a promise to appear in court.
Police say the arson squad is investigating and that the investigations “aim, in particular, to determine whether these events are local repercussions of the conflict in the Middle East.”
Montreal police say officers will be particularly visible in the days before Oct. 7, the first anniversary of the Hamas rampage in Israel that killed more than 1,200 people and during which more than 250 were kidnapped, and the beginning of Israel’s military retaliation for the attack that has killed tens of thousands more and displaced nearly 2 million Palestinians.
The city of Côte-St-Luc says it has increased security patrols and that its main focus in the coming days will be security.