"Drama escaped"

Attack on synagogue: suspect arrested

A suspect was arrested following an attack on a synagogue in the south of France.(Bild: APA/AFP/Pascal GUYOT)

The suspected perpetrator of the explosion outside a synagogue in the south of France has been arrested. A total of four people were taken into custody in connection with the crime, according to sources familiar with the case on Sunday. 

The suspect fired shots before being arrested, the anti-terrorism prosecutor's office said. The police shot back and injured him in the face. 

The main suspect was wearing a Palestinian flag wrapped around his hips, among other things, as was seen on video surveillance footage. According to a source familiar with the case, the man is a 33-year-old Algerian with legal residence status. 

Hours-long search for perpetrator
Almost 200 police officers and gendarmes spent hours searching for the suspected perpetrator. Several searches were carried out until he was finally apprehended in a district of Nîmes characterized by poverty and drug trafficking, around 40 kilometers from the site of the attack at La Grande-Motte. Two people close to the man were also taken into police custody.

On Saturday morning, two doors of the synagogue in the village of La Grande-Motte near Montpellier were set on fire. Two cars in front of the building also went up in flames and a gas cylinder exploded nearby. A police officer was slightly injured. The five people who were in the synagogue at the time were unharmed.

"Drama escaped"
The anti-terrorism public prosecutor's office is investigating attempted murder with reference to terrorism, the formation of a terrorist organization and destruction by dangerous means. "The initial investigations indicate that the perpetrator was carrying a Palestinian flag and a weapon," the public prosecutor's office announced. They are also investigating how the suspected perpetrator prepared the attack and how he fled.

France's acting Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and Interior Minister Darmanin had traveled to the scene of the attack in the afternoon. Attal condemned the act as anti-Semitically motivated. "We can assume that we have escaped an absolute drama", said the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin had traveled to the scene of the attack on Saturday.(Bild: APA/AFP/Pascal GUYOT)

According to initial findings, the perpetrator was very determined, Attal explained. If the synagogue had been full at the time of the attack and people had come outside, there would probably have been fatalities, Attal said. The act was outrageous. The Prime Minister also referred to the increasing number of anti-Semitic attacks in France.

More security forces outside synagogues
President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X: "The fight against anti-Semitism is an ongoing battle, the battle of the united nation." In response to the attack, France increased the presence of security forces outside Jewish places of worship in the country.

According to Yonathan Arfi, chairman of the umbrella organization of Jewish organizations in France, the explosion occurred at a time when worshippers were expected to arrive at the synagogue. It was not just an attack on a place of worship, but an attempt to kill Jews.

The number of anti-Semitic crimes in France has risen significantly since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip triggered by the attack on Israel by the radical Islamic group Hamas on October 7. According to Darmanin, 887 such crimes were recorded in the first half of the year. In 2023, there were 304 in the same period.