A Jewish school in central Rome was evacuated on Wednesday after a bomb threat, police in the Italian capital said – before later saying it was a security exercise.
A spokeswoman had told AFP that police officers and dog units were on site alongside the bomb squad, while the streets around the school in Rome’s historic Ghetto were blocked off, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.
However, the police press office later told AFP that it had been an exercise, amid heightened security concerns following the Hamas-Israel war.
In a statement, the Jewish community in Rome confirmed that “what happened this morning at the Jewish school was an exercise.”
A statement from the community carried by Italian media previously stated that the evacuation was caused by an anonymous phone call.
Security has been stepped up across Italy, particularly on Jewish sites, in the wake of the war between Hamas and Israel.
