Suspected terror attack near synagogue in southern France injures police officer

From RFI (Radio France Internationale)

Local media said two cars, one of which contained at least one gas bottle, had been set on fire outside the Beth Yaacov synagogue in La Grande-Motte, at about 8:30 a.m on Saturday.

Police said they were treating the incident as attempted arson. The Paris-based National anti-terrorist prosecutor (Pnat) has opened an investigation.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin called the incident “an obviously criminal act” and said police were looking for a suspect.

One police officer was injured in the explosion. William Maury, of police union Alliance Police Nationale, told BFM TV the officer’s life was not in danger.

The five people inside the synagogue at the time, including the rabbi, were not injured.

Stéphane Rossignol, the mayor of La Grande-Motte, told Le Figaro daily that surveillance cameras had shown an individual setting fire to vehicles in front of the synagogue.

Several politicians as well as Jewish organisations denounced the explosion as an antisemitic attack.

“Exploding a gas bottle in a car in front of the Grande Motte synagogue at the expected time of arrival of the faithful: it’s not just attacking a place of worship, it’s an attempt to kill Jews,” Yonathan Arfi, who leads the CRIF, an umbrella organisation of French Jewish groups, said on X.