A suspected terrorist accused of attacking a synagogue in France was arrested tonight after a shootout with police.
The 33-year-old man, whose name has not been released, was “seriously injured” before being arrested at the top of a block of flats in a residential complex in the city of Nimes on Saturday evening.
Some 200 police officers had been searching for the suspect, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said earlier, adding that the attacker had set fire to several entrance doors to the synagogue and several nearby cars.
It was 50 kilometres away, in the coastal town of La Grande-Motte, in the south of the country, where the Algerian citizen is said to have caused an explosion in a parked car and set fire to the gates of the Beth Yaacov synagogue.
CCTV footage is said to show him at around 8.30am on Saturday with a Palestinian flag around his waist, as he took part in what President Emmanuel Macron called an “act of terrorism”.
One police officer was injured in the man-made explosion, while those inside the synagogue were unharmed.
“This is an anti-Semitic attack. Once again, our Jewish compatriots are in the crosshairs,” Attal said on X. “In the face of anti-Semitism, in the face of violence, we will never be intimidated.”
After visiting the synagogue, Attal said an “absolute tragedy” had been narrowly averted after firefighters and police quickly arrived at the scene.
CCTV footage is said to show the man at around 8.30am on Saturday with a Palestinian flag around his waist.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin stands in front of the city’s synagogue.
The fire that set two cars on fire near a synagogue in France on Saturday is being treated as an act of terrorism (Photo: The fire near the synagogue)
Firefighters, police and the Gendermerie arrived at the scene near the Beth Yaacov synagogue in La Grande-Motteat at around 8.40am local time (Photo: smoke rising into the air)
Anti-terrorism magistrates have linked the attack to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in which thousands of people have died.
Some 200 police officers were involved in the search and at around 11.30pm on Saturday, special forces from the RAID (Research, Assistance, Intervention and Deterrence) group entered the building in Nimes.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin announced on Monday: ‘The alleged perpetrator of the arson attack on the synagogue has been arrested.
‘Thanks to the police force, and especially to the RAID, who intervened with great professionalism despite the gunshots.’
A source involved in the operation confirmed that the suspect was “seriously injured” before being taken to a maximum security hospital. There were no reports of any other injuries.
Stephan Rossignol, mayor of La Grande Motte, said security cameras had captured images of an unidentified man setting fire to cars outside the synagogue in La Grande Motte.
The potential suspect seen in the footage is said to have been “waving a Palestinian flag.”
Police sources also said the man was armed with a pistol.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin (pictured) called the incident a “clear criminal attack.”
Yonathan Arfi, president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF), called the attack “an attempt to kill Jews.”
He said a gas cylinder was detonated “in front of the synagogue in La Grande-Motte at the time when the faithful were expected to arrive.”
The French government has regularly denounced an increase in anti-Semitic acts as Israel continues 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 injured since Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, when some 1,200 Israelis were killed.
Anti-Semitic acts in France have almost tripled since the start of the conflict, with “887 incidents” recorded during the first half of this year, according to a spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior in Paris.
Hussein Bourgi, a Socialist senator from the Hérault department, where La Grande-Motte is located, said: “I would like to express my total solidarity with the Jewish community of La Grande Motte.”
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.
Yonathan Arfi, president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF), called it an “attempt to kill Jews.”
A Gendarmerie officer stands guard after cars were set on fire outside the city’s synagogue.
The 29-year-old man was hit four times by an officer who fired his service revolver five times in front of the building in Rouen, the capital of Normandy.
A judicial investigation into “arson with anti-religious motivation” and “intentional violence against persons holding public office” has been opened and is ongoing.
A Holocaust memorial in Paris was desecrated with red paint in an apparent reference to the rising civilian death toll in Gaza and the West Bank in May, and was described as “scandalous” by Paris Mayor Ann Hidalgo.
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