Major anti-terrorism investigation is underway after a mysterious caravan full of explosives was discovered in Sydney with a chilling three-word note about the intended target

A joint counter terror investigation involving 100 officers has been set up after a caravan stacked with explosives along with a note of known Jewish targets was found at a semi-rural property. 

The vehicle was found by a resident at a property in Dural in north-west Sydney on January 19.

Police found a load of explosives in the van along with a note containing the addresses of Jewish targets and a synagogue.  

Officers also found a note in the caravan which is understood to have read ‘f*** the Jews’. 

Police are treating the situation as a credible terror threat and are investigating the van’s origins, owners and any associates of the owners.

NSW Police is working in partnership with AFP, the NSW Crime Commission and ASIO in its ongoing investigation.

The owners of the caravan are unknown and police are yet to confirm if the plot is linked to far-right extremists, Islamic terrorists or any other group.

Arrests had been made, with some connected to other alleged anti-Semitic attacks.

‘We’re taking this seriously and all lines of inquiry are being pursued, but I want to stress we do not believe there is an ongoing threat from this discovery,’ NSW Police Deputy Commissioner David Hudson said. 

It’s understood the resident who reported the van to police was concerned that the seemingly dumped vehicle posed a safety risk to passing cars.

The man had towed the caravan onto his property before realising its contents. 

Police seized the van and detectives are now considering the fact that the caravan was planted to fuel anti-Semitism.  

‘Some things just don’t add up,’ one source involved in the operation told the Daily Telegraph.

‘Leaving notes and addresses are too obvious, likewise leaving it on a public road makes us believe it could well possibly be a set up.’

Deputy Commissioner Hudson doesn’t believe the plot is linked to far-right extremists but couldn’t rule it out.

‘We don’t have any particular ideology in relation to what’s causing this or any common links between certain ideologies, but nothing’s excluded at this stage,’ he said.

‘We pursue everything until we get to the truth, and we will do that.’

NSW Premier Chris Minns is also ‘very concerned’ about the rising number of anti-Semitic attacks’.

‘I want to make it very clear, please take this threat incredibly seriously,’ he told reporters at a joint press conference on Wednesday night.

‘As I’ve said for many, many weeks now, the full resources of the state of NSW and NSW have been deployed to confront this very serious threat to our community. 

A counter-terrorism investigation is currently underway concerning the van and its owner

‘I want to make it absolutely clear, and I understand community concerns about this story and similar escalating incidents of anti-Semitic violence in our community that anyone attempting terrorism, violence, hatred in our community will be met with the full force of the law, that there are massive amounts of police and government resources being devoted to this investigation, that there will be absolutely no tolerance under any circumstances for these acts of criminal violence in our community.’

Police believe the threat stemming from the dumped van had been contained. 

‘We will not rest until these matters are resolved,’  Deputy Commissioner Hudson said.

‘We understand the concerns of the community. We understand the concerns of the Jewish community, and we take all these threats exceptionally seriously.’

The incident comes after a spate of anti-Semitic attacks in Sydney, with a childcare centre near a synagogue in the city’s east set alight and sprayed with anti-Semitic graffiti on January 21.

Four days before, a house that formerly belonged to Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin was targeted in an arson and graffiti attack.

Two men have been charged over a separate attack on a synagogue in Newtown after it was spray-painted with red swastikas and briefly set alight in the early hours of January 11.

Federal police have identified that foreign actors recruiting local “criminals for hire” could be behind some of the attacks targeting Jewish communities.

Cars have been set alight, a synagogue burnt down and anti-Semitic slurs painted on buildings and cars in attacks that have escalated in frequency and severity since December.