Two Swedish citizens were jailed on Tuesday for throwing grenades at Israel’s embassy in Denmark in October 2024.

A Copenhagen court sentenced an 18-year-old to 12 years in prison and a 21-year-old to 14 years after finding them guilty of terrorism and attempted murder in the incident.

The court also ruled that the pair — aged 16 and 18 at the time — planned the attack together with one or more unidentified accomplices from a criminal network in Sweden.

In the early hours of 2 October 2024, the pair threw two hand grenades in the direction of the Israeli embassy in the Danish capital.

The devices did not reach their target but instead detonated on the terrace of a residential building nearby. Nobody was injured.

The explosions happened about 100 metres from the embassy, which is located in an area with other embassies, according to local police.

Copenhagen’s Jewish school, Carolineskolen, is located down the street from the embassy, but it was closed at the time of the attack.

The two men admitted to throwing the grenades but said they did it for money and denied being ideologically motivated to attack an Israeli institution.

During the trial, the youngest of the two — who is also being prosecuted in Sweden for shooting at the Israeli embassy in Stockholm — admitted to being a member of the Foxtrot criminal network, which had recruited him during his secondary school years.

“The criminal network acted as the armed wing of a Middle Eastern terrorist organisation in Denmark, where the Israeli embassy had been designated as the target of the attack,” prosecutor Soren Harbo said in a statement.

The older man also faces criminal charges in connection with another attack in Sweden.

Lawyers for the two men said they would appeal the verdicts, which include deportation to Sweden after they have served their jail sentences.

Sweden has struggled with gang violence for years. Criminal networks often recruit teenagers in poor immigrant neighbourhoods to carry out attacks. Two main gangs — the Foxtrot network and its rival Rumba — have been involved in several deadly feuds.

In May 2024, Sweden’s intelligence services claimed that Iran was recruiting members of Swedish gangs to carry out “acts of violence” against Israel. Tehran denied the claim.