French police arrest suspect after synagogue explosion – DW – 25.08.2024

French police have arrested a suspect following an explosion outside a synagogue in the southern town of La Grande-Motte, acting Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said early Sunday.

The arrest in Nîmes, 40 kilometers from La Grande-Motte, a port and holiday town on France's Mediterranean coast, came after a manhunt reportedly involving 200 police officers and gendarmes.

In the incident on Saturday morning, two doors of the synagogue and two vehicles in front of the building were set on fire. A police officer was injured when a gas cylinder exploded in one of the vehicles while police were securing the scene of the attack. The attack occurred as worshippers were arriving for religious services on the Jewish Sabbath.

Acting Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said on Saturday that if the synagogue had been full at the time of the crime and people had come outside, there would probably have been fatalities.

What do we know about the arrest?

The anti-terrorism prosecutor's office in charge of the investigation said that a man suspected of carrying out the attack was arrested on Saturday evening.

“Before police could intervene, (the suspect) opened fire on (police), who returned fire. The man was injured in the face,” the office said in a statement.

BFM TV reported that the suspect was a 33-year-old Algerian, but local police declined to provide further details.

Increasing anti-Semitism

France, like many other European countries, saw a rise in anti-Semitic crimes following the deadly attack on Israel by Palestinian militants led by Hamas on October 7 and Israel's subsequent retaliatory offensive against the Islamist extremist group in the Gaza Strip.

Several French media reported that the suspect was seen on a surveillance camera shortly before the attack with a Palestinian flag around his waist.

French President Emmanuel Macron said his country would fight together against the scourge of anti-Semitism.

“The fight against anti-Semitism is an ongoing struggle, the struggle of a united nation,” Macron wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

The government has announced that it will increase police protection at synagogues and Jewish schools across France following the attack.

tj( (Reuters, dpa)