Jewish schools in Belgium and the Netherlands will remain closed on Friday due to fears they could be targeted by Islamist terrorists.

Schools in Antwerp and Brussels cancelled lessons for the day, while the only Orthodox institution in Amsterdam, the Jewish Children Community Cheder, also closed its doors as a precaution.

The move follows Thursday evening’s police raid on a terrorist cell in Verviers, near Belgium’s eastern border, which left two suspected militants dead and one injured after a shootout. Police made 13 arrests.

The group, which a senior counterterrorism official said had received instructions from Islamic State, was reportedly on the verge of carrying out an attack on the same scale as last week’s atrocities in Paris.

Federal prosecutor Eric Van Der Sypt said: “This operation stopped a major terrorist attack from taking place. You could say a second potential Paris has been averted.”

In Britain, Community Security Trust patrols and additional police measures are in place in areas with high Jewish populations ahead of Shabbat.