Police have arrested a suspect after an attack on a synagogue in southern France. Authorities are treating it as an attack and the anti-terrorism state attorney’s office is investigating.
A suspect has been arrested in connection with an explosion outside a synagogue in southern France. This was announced by Home Minister Gerald Dormanin on the night of X. The anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office said the suspect opened fire before being arrested. As a result, the emergency services opened fire on him, injuring his face.
The suspect was arrested in Nimes
About 200 police and gendarmes searched for the suspected culprit for several hours. There were several searches before he was captured in Nîmes, 40 kilometers from the La Grande-Motte attack site. The police also arrested 2 persons closely related to the person.
On Saturday morning, two doors of a synagogue in La Grande-Motte near Montpellier were set on fire. Two cars in front of the building caught fire. A gas bottle exploded in one of the vehicles. A police officer sustained minor injuries. 5 people who were in the synagogue at the time were unharmed.
The State Prosecutor’s Office against Terrorism is investigating terrorism-related attempted murder, creation of a terrorist organization and destruction by dangerous means. “The closed investigation indicated that the perpetrator was carrying a Palestinian flag and a weapon,” the state prosecutor’s office said. How the accused prepared the crime and how he fled will also be verified.
“Totally Escaped Drama”
France’s current prime minister, Gabriel Attal, and interior minister Tharmanin visited the site of the attack that afternoon. Attal condemned the act as anti-Semitic. “We can assume that we have escaped the full drama,” the Prime Minister said. Atal explained that according to initial findings, the culprit is very determined. Had the synagogue been full at the time of the crime and people had come outside, according to Atal, the deaths would have occurred. The action is ridiculous.
The Prime Minister also mentioned the increasing number of anti-Semitic attacks in France. President Emmanuel Macron wrote in X: “The fight against anti-Semitism is a continuous fight, a fight of a united nation.”
In response to the attack, France increased the presence of security forces at Jewish places of worship in the country. Jonathan Arfi, head of the Federation of Jewish Organizations in France, said the explosion occurred at a time when worshipers were expected to arrive at the synagogue. This was not just an attack on a place of worship, but an attempt to kill Jews.
Anti-Semitic crimes in France have increased significantly since the October 7 attack by radical Islamist Hamas on Israel and the start of the Gaza war. According to Griff, the Jewish umbrella organization, the number of such acts has nearly quadrupled from 436 to nearly 1,700 within a year.
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