In the morning, two cars caught fire in front of the synagogue near Montpellier. A gas bottle exploded in one of the vehicles, a spokesman for the gendarmerie said. A police officer was injured. No one was hurt in the building. 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 the immediate increase in the presence of security forces in front of Jewish places of worship. On Platform X, he wrote of an “obviously criminal attempted arson”. He expressed his full support to the Jewish community.
Prime Minister Attal spoke on X of an anti-Semitic act. “Once again, our Jewish fellow citizens have been targeted.”
The chairman of the umbrella organization of Jewish organizations in France, Crif, Yonathan Arfi, wrote that the explosion took place at a time when believers were expected to arrive at the synagogue. It was not just an attack on a place of worship, but an attempt to kill Jews.
Prime Minister Attal and Interior Minister Darmanin are expected at the scene of the attack this afternoon.
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