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French police on Sunday arrested a man suspected of setting fires and causing an explosion at a synagogue in southern France on Saturday.
The attack occurred in the southern French city of La Grande-Motte.
“The suspected perpetrator of the criminal fires at the synagogue has been detained,” minister Gerard Darmanin said on X, adding that officers who made the arrest came under fire.
The suspect’s arrest comes after at least 200 police officers hunted for him as authorities said that they would be ruthless with antisemitism.
Two cars parked at the Beth Yaacov synagogue complex in the seaside resort town of La Grande Motte near Montpellier were set ablaze just after 8.00 am Saturday, the National Anti-terrorism Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.
Firefighters discovered additional fires at two entrances to the synagogue. A police officer who walked up to the site was injured after a propane gas tank in one of the vehicles detonated, the statement said. Five people, including the rabbi, who were present in the synagogue complex at the time of the attack, were unharmed, it added.
The Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF) labelled the recent explosion as “an attempt to kill Jews”.
The organisation’s president, Yonathan Arfi, spoke to AFP about the incident and said, in his statement, “The use of a gas canister in a car at a time when worshippers are expected to arrive at the synagogue is not simply a criminal act. This shows an intention to kill,” he added.
Police suspect that the explosion originated from a gas canister that had been concealed within one of the vehicles involved in the incident. La Motte, a well-known coastal resort, has a permanent population of approximately 8,500 residents and attracts over 100,000 visitors annually.
Darmanin recently disclosed that the government had recorded 887 instances of anti-Semitism in France during the initial six months of 2024, representing a nearly threefold increase compared to the corresponding period in 2023.
The attack occurred in the southern French city of La Grande-Motte.
“The suspected perpetrator of the criminal fires at the synagogue has been detained,” minister Gerard Darmanin said on X, adding that officers who made the arrest came under fire.
The suspect’s arrest comes after at least 200 police officers hunted for him as authorities said that they would be ruthless with antisemitism.
Two cars parked at the Beth Yaacov synagogue complex in the seaside resort town of La Grande Motte near Montpellier were set ablaze just after 8.00 am Saturday, the National Anti-terrorism Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.
Firefighters discovered additional fires at two entrances to the synagogue. A police officer who walked up to the site was injured after a propane gas tank in one of the vehicles detonated, the statement said. Five people, including the rabbi, who were present in the synagogue complex at the time of the attack, were unharmed, it added.
The Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF) labelled the recent explosion as “an attempt to kill Jews”.
The organisation’s president, Yonathan Arfi, spoke to AFP about the incident and said, in his statement, “The use of a gas canister in a car at a time when worshippers are expected to arrive at the synagogue is not simply a criminal act. This shows an intention to kill,” he added.
Police suspect that the explosion originated from a gas canister that had been concealed within one of the vehicles involved in the incident. La Motte, a well-known coastal resort, has a permanent population of approximately 8,500 residents and attracts over 100,000 visitors annually.
Darmanin recently disclosed that the government had recorded 887 instances of anti-Semitism in France during the initial six months of 2024, representing a nearly threefold increase compared to the corresponding period in 2023.
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