French President Emmanual Macron called Saturday’s attack on a synagogue in southern France “an act of terrorism” that would combat a united France.
“The fight against anti-Semitism is an ongoing fight, the fight of a united nation,” Macron wrote on X, adding that everything would be done to find those responsible.
Following the explosion at a synagogue in La Grande-Motte, a Mediterranean coastal town near Montpellier, the Public Prosecution Service (OM) responsible for counter-terrorism has announced that it is taking over the investigation and will focus on attempted manslaughter with a terrorist motive, vandalism with dangerous means and terrorist links.
According to acting Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, the search for the perpetrator is still ongoing.
At the time, there were five people in the synagogue, including the rabbi. According to the anti-terrorism prosecutor, they were unharmed.
Two cars were initially set on fire in front of the synagogue in La Grande-Motte, a Mediterranean coastal town near Montpellier.
A gas cylinder exploded in one of the vehicles, a spokesman for the gendarmerie, a branch of the armed forces responsible for internal security in some areas, said. One police officer was injured. No one in the building was hurt.
Two doors of the synagogue were also set on fire. It is unclear whether this happened before or after the explosion.
France’s acting Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin ordered an immediate increase in the presence of security forces outside Jewish places of worship. He wrote on X of an “apparently criminal attempt at arson” and expressed his full support for the Jewish community.
Attal, writing on X, spoke of an anti-Semitic act. “Once again, our Jewish fellow citizens have been targeted.”
Saturday is the Jewish Sabbath and traditionally people go to church on that day.
Yonathan Arfi, president of the umbrella organization of Jewish organizations in France, CRIF, wrote that the explosion occurred at a time when worshipers were expected to arrive at the synagogue.
“It was not just an attack on a house of worship, it was an attempt to kill Jews,” he wrote.
Attal and Darmanin are expected to arrive at the scene of the attack this afternoon.
