A new alert was triggered in France on Saturday afternoon following an explosion outside a synagogue near Montpellier, which resulted in the injury of a police officer.
The incident is being treated as a terrorist act, as confirmed by President Emmanuel Macron in a statement on Twitter. Macron emphasized, “The fight against antisemitism is a daily battle; we are doing everything possible to find the perpetrator.”
A fire broke out at the entrance of the synagogue in the town of La Grande-Motte in southern France but was quickly extinguished, according to investigators. Two doors were damaged in the incident. Additionally, two cars outside the synagogue were engulfed in flames, possibly due to a gas canister that exploded inside one of the vehicles.
The city’s mayor stated that the surveillance cameras captured images of a person who likely caused the explosion. The suspect seen in the footage was wrapped in a Palestinian flag. Another source mentioned that the man was holding two empty bottles as he walked away from the scene on foot. In one of the images, he also appears to be armed, possibly with a 9mm pistol, according to the same source.
The investigation into the incident has been taken over by the anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office, according to French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal. “This is an antisemitic attack. Once again, our Jewish fellow citizens are being targeted,” Attal stated on Twitter. He added, “We will not back down. In the face of antisemitism, in the face of violence, we will never allow ourselves to be intimidated.”
The explosion occurred during Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest, which lasts from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset, a time when many faithful attend synagogue services. However, no religious service was in progress at the time of the incident, according to a police source. A rabbi and four other people were inside the synagogue at the time, but none were injured, the investigators reported.
