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French police are hunting for a man draped in a Palestinian flag who is suspected of setting fire to a synagogue in southern France on Saturday (August 24) and causing an explosion that injured a police officer.
Authorities said the incident was being treated as a potential terrorist attack and that “all means” were being used to find the perpetrators.
Security measures were stepped up around Jewish gatherings following the attack on the Beth Yaacov synagogue in the seaside resort of La Grande-Motte, near the city of Montpellier, in the early hours of Saturday.
Police said two cars were set on fire outside the synagogue and a gas tank in one of the vehicles may have exploded.
Investigators said two fires also broke out at the synagogue’s entrance but were quickly extinguished, leaving two doors damaged.
Police said the injured officer rushed to the scene after the fire broke out and was injured by the explosion.
President Emmanuel Macron called the incident an “act of terror” and added on X: “The fight against anti-Semitism is a daily struggle”.
“We are taking every possible means” to catch the suspect, he said.
La Grande-Motte Mayor Stephan Rossignol said CCTV captured someone setting fire to the car.
In the video clip, seen and confirmed by AFP, a man is seen with a Palestinian flag tied around his waist and a red Palestinian headscarf on his head.
The man is carrying two bottles filled with yellow liquid. The video also appears to show the outline of a handgun.
Sources close to the investigation said the suspect left the scene in a hurry on foot.
The fire and explosion came as France and other European countries were on high alert due to the war in Gaza.
‘Anti-Semitic behavior’
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said France’s national anti-terrorism prosecutor had been tasked with investigating the matter.
“The synagogue in La Grande Motte was attacked this morning,” Attar said in a post on X. “This is an anti-Semitic act. Our Jewish compatriots are once again being targeted.”
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin called the incident a “clear criminal act.”
“We are exhausting all means to find the killer,” he said.
The minister added that there would be an increased police presence outside Jewish enclaves in France following the explosion.
The blast occurred on the Sabbath, the Jewish day of rest, which runs from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, when many people attend synagogue services.
But police sources said there were no religious services taking place at the time of the incident. Investigators said a rabbi and four other people were inside the synagogue at the time but were not injured.
The town of La Grande-Motte has about 8,500 permanent residents, but the population swells during the summer tourist season.
Darmanin said this month that the government counted 887 anti-Semitic acts in France in the first half of 2024, almost three times the number in the same period of 2023.
France is the country with the largest Jewish population outside of Israel and the United States, and also the country with the largest Muslim population in the European Union.
The Representative Committee of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF) called the bombing an “attempt to kill Jews.”
“Using gas canisters in a car at a time when worshippers were expected to arrive at the synagogue is more than a criminal act. It shows that they had the intention to kill,” CRIF president Yonathan Arfi told AFP.
Read more by Euractiv
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