Two cars were set on fire after an explosion occurred today next to a synagogue in France in a “clear criminal attack” against the Jewish place of worship.
Firefighters, police and police arrived at the scene near the Beth Yaacov synagogue at around 8.40am local time on Saturday morning.
Emergency services discovered two doors and two cars on fire and a police officer was knocked to the ground by the explosion.
The police officer was seriously injured in the incident in the town of La Grande-Motte, a southern seaside resort near Montpellier.
“The alarm was raised at around 8.30am,” said a source in the investigation. “There was at least one violent explosion and the flames reached the door of the synagogue.”
Two cars were set on fire near a synagogue in France today in what has been described as a “clear criminal attack” on the Jewish place of worship by authorities (Photo: The fire near the synagogue)
‘There was clearly a gas cylinder in one of the two cars parked right in front of the synagogue, and that is what caused the explosion.
‘A police officer who tried to secure the area was seriously injured and was rushed to hospital.’
According The mirrorCCTV footage captured someone fleeing the scene before the fire started. A gas cylinder was later discovered inside one of the burnt-out vehicles.
Firefighters were called to the scene and by 10am the fire was under control, with no further injuries.
Tensions have risen in France in recent months, along with anti-Semitic incidents, due to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Middle East.
France is home to Europe’s largest Jewish community, numbering around 500,000 people.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the incident was a “clear criminal attack.”
X wrote on Twitter: ‘I would like 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 mobilised to find the author.’
Firefighters, police and police arrived at the scene near the synagogue at around 8.40am local time today. The fire has now been brought under control and no injuries have been reported (pictured: smoke rising into the air)
Both Darmanin and Prime Minister Gabriel Attal will travel to the site of the explosion later today, according to AFP.
Hussein Bourgi, a Socialist senator from the Hérault department, where La Grande-Motte is located, said: “I would like to express my full solidarity with the Jewish community of La Grande Motte, as well as with its president, Sabine Atlan.”
In May, an Algerian immigrant staying illegally in France was shot dead by police after throwing a Molotov cocktail through the window of a synagogue.
The 29-year-old man, who was armed with a knife, was hit four times by an officer who fired his service revolver in front of the building in Rouen, Normandy.
A judicial investigation into “arson with anti-religious motivation” and “intentional violence against persons holding public office” has been opened and is ongoing.
This comes shortly after a Holocaust memorial in Paris was desecrated with red hands in an apparent reference to the rising number of civilian deaths in Gaza and the West Bank.
