On Saturday, the suspect allegedly set fireplace to 2 vehicles within the synagogue’s automotive park.
French police have arrested a person suspected of making an attempt to set a synagogue on fireplace within the metropolis of La Grande-Motte, southern France.
Inside Minister Gerard Darmanin introduced on the social media platform X that the suspect had been arrested on Saturday evening.
The antiterrorism prosecutor’s workplace, which was accountable for the investigation, mentioned early on Sunday that the suspect had been arrested in Nimes, southern France.
“Earlier than the police might intervene, [the suspect] opened fireplace on the [police], which returned fireplace. The person was wounded within the face,” the workplace mentioned in an announcement, including that two different individuals had been taken into custody.
French media reviews, citing sources near the investigation, mentioned the suspect was a 33-year-old Algerian; nonetheless native police declined to verify or give particulars.
Police reported on Saturday that the suspect had set fireplace to 2 vehicles, one in every of which contained no less than one gasoline bottle within the synagogue’s automotive park.
The gasoline bottle exploded and a police officer who rushed to the scene after the fires began was injured.
Two fires had been additionally began on the entrance of the synagogue, damaging two doorways, however had been rapidly put out, investigators mentioned.
There was no non secular service on the time as a result of it occurred throughout Shabbat, the Jewish day of relaxation that runs from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday.
A rabbi and 4 different individuals had been contained in the synagogue throughout the time of the incident however had been unhurt.
France’s interim Prime Minister Gabriel Attal visited the synagogue on Saturday and mentioned they’d “narrowly prevented an absolute tragedy”.
“As soon as extra, French Jews have been focused and attacked because of their beliefs,” Attal mentioned.
“If the synagogue had been crammed with worshippers … there in all probability would have been human victims.”
Earlier in August, Darmanin mentioned the federal government had counted 887 anti-Semitic acts within the nation in 2024, virtually tripling in a single yr.
Following the assault, the federal government introduced that police safety of synagogues, Jewish colleges and retailers could be stepped up throughout France.