Pictured: Synagogue assault suspect caught on CCTV in Palestinian flag
The man suspected of attacking a synagogue in France today has been pictured after he was caught on CCTV wearing a Palestinian flag and carrying two bottles of liquid as he fled the scene.
The explosion and fire at the synagogue is being treated as terrorism, as a community leader denounced the incident as an ‘attempt to kill Jews’.
Two cars were set ablaze following the explosion next to the Jewish place of worship.
Firefighters, police, and the Gendermerie arrived at the scene near Beth Yaacov synagogue in La Grande-Motte at around 8.40am local time on Saturday morning.
Emergency services discovered two doors as well as two cars set alight, with a policeman injured after being hurled to the ground by the explosion.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the attack at the southern seaside resort close to Montpellier, was being dealt with by specialist anti-terrorist prosecutors.
The man suspected of attacking a synagogue in France today has been pictured after he was caught on CCTV wearing a Palestinian flag and carrying two bottles of liquid as he fled the scene
Two cars were set alight near a a synagogue in France today is being treated as terrorism (Pictured: The blaze near the synagogue)
Firefighters, police, and the Gendermerie arrived at the scene near Beth Yaacov synagogue in La Grande-Motteat around 8.40am local time today (Pictured: Smoke rising into the air)
France’s Minister of Interior, Gerald Darmanin (Pictured) described the incident as a ‘clear criminal attack’
‘Police are currently looking for suspects, and reporting to anti-terrorist prosecutors’ said Mr Darmanin.
He also confirmed that the police officer involved was badly injured in the blast near the town’s synagogue.
Mr Darmanin called for the ‘immediate reinforced protection’ of all Jewish places of worship in France.
Yonathan Arfi, the president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF) meanwhile described the incident as ‘an attempt to kill Jews’.
He claims a gas cylinder was detonated ‘in front of the synagogue of La Grande-Motte at the expected time of arrival of worshippers’.
Regarding the attack, investigating source revealed: The alarm was raised at around 8.30am.
‘There was at least one violent explosion, and flames touched the door of the synagogue.
‘A gas bottle was clearly stored in one of two cars parked directly outside the synagogue, and that’s what caused the explosion.
‘A policeman who attempted to secure the area was badly injured and rushed to hospital.’
According to The Mirror, CCTV footage captured someone fleeing the scene before the inferno began. A gas bottle was later discovered inside one of the burnt out vehicles.
Yonathan Arfi, the president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF) described it ‘an attempt to kill Jews’
Law enforcement officers and firefighters stand in front of the synagogue building following the fire and explosion in La Grande-Motte
Firefighters attended the scene, and by 10am the fire had been brought under control, with no further injuries (Pictured: law enforcement at the scene)
A Gendarmerie officer stands guard after cars were set on fire in front of the city’s synagogue,
By 10am firefighters had brought the blaze under control, with no further injuries reported.
It comes as tensions have risen in France, along with anti-Semitic incidents in recent months, due to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Middle East.
The French government has regularly denounced an increase in anti-Semitic acts while Israel prosecutes its attacks on Gaza and the West Bank, in occupied Palestine.
More than 40,000 Palestinians, including thousands of women and children, have been killed, and many more wounded, since the October 7 Hamas assault on Israel.
Hamas gunmen went across the Israeli border and killed 1,200 people on October 7, among the victims were children, the elderly as well as 364 attendees at Nova music festival.
A United Nations report published earlier this year said that ‘sexualised torture’ such as rapes and gang-rapes had been carried out by Hamas thugs amid the atrocities which saw over a thousand people killed and 250 taken hostage.
Anti-Semitic acts have almost tripled since the beginning of the conflict, with ‘887 incidents’ recorded during the first half of this year, according Mr. Darmanin.
France has the largest Jewish community in Europe, made up of around 500,000 people.
Gerald Darmanin, France’s Interior Ministry, said the incident earlier today was a ‘clear criminal attack’.
He wrote on Twitter X: ‘I want to assure our Jewish fellow citizens and the community of my full support and say that at the request of the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, all means are being mobilized to find the perpetrator.’.
A policeman injured after being hurled to the ground by the explosion outside the synagogue
The most recent indicent comes as tensions have risen in France, along with anti-Semitic incidents in recent months, due to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Middle East (Pictured: authorities at the scene in France)
Armed officers outside the blaze which was believed to have been caused by a gas bottle was stored in one of two cars parked directly outside the synagogue
Law enforcement officers sit inside a black transit van in front of a synagogue
Both Darmanin and Prime Minister Gabriel Attal are to travel to the site of the explosion later, according to AFP.
Hussein Bourgi, a Socialist Senator in the Hérault department, where La Grande-Motte is situated, said: ‘I would like to express my full solidarity with the Jewish community of La Grande Motte as well as its president, Sabine Atlan.’
In May, an Algerian immigrant who was in France illegally was shot dead by police after throwing a Molotov Cocktail through a synagogue window.
The 29-year-old, who was armed with a knife, was hit four times by an officer who discharged his service revolver outside the building in Rouen, Normandy.
A judicial enquiry was opened into ‘arson with an anti-religious motivation’ and ‘intentional violence against persons holding public office,’ and is ongoing.
This comes shortly after a Holocaust memorial in Paris was defaced with red hands in an apparent reference to the rising civilian death toll in Gaza and the West Bank.
