French authorities said police shot and killed a man in northern France on Friday after he tried to set fire to a synagogue in the city of Rouen and attacked police who tried to stop him.
Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, mayor of Rouen, a city of about 110,000 people, told reporters that firefighters had brought the blaze under control and that no one was injured except the attacker.
The identity and motive of the man who attacked the synagogue remains unclear.
French authorities sound alarm over surge in anti-Semitic incidents across country Gaza war. Mr. Meyer-Rossignol said the incident was still under investigation but “it was likely that this was a serious act of anti-Semitism.”
Anyone who attacks the Jewish community “is attacking France as a whole,” he added.
Mr Meyer-Rossignol said initial police findings were that the man broke into the synagogue by climbing on top of a bin at about 6.30am, reached the first floor and threw a “Molotov cocktail” inside , started a fire that caused “significant damage” but did not harm anyone, Mr. Meyer-Rosignol said.
Firefighters and police arrived at the scene quickly, Mr. Meyer-Rosignol said. The man came down from the first floor, threw a metal bar at the police and attacked them with a knife. Meyer-Rosignol said police returned fire, killing the man.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said in a social media post Police have “neutralized” an “armed man who apparently wanted to set fire to the city’s synagogue.”
France remains highly vigilant against terrorist attacks and other potential security threats. Especially on the eve of the Summer Olympics It will start in Paris in July.
Country scarred by massive Islamist terror attacks 2015 and 2016and a series of smaller but still deadly shootings and stabbings in the years that followed ensured Security and intelligence forces remain on edge.
Gaza war and rising tensions between the two countries israel and iran It has also raised concerns among authorities that France, home to some of the largest Jewish and Muslim populations in Europe, could be affected.
In April, after Iran Air strikes against IsraelMr. Darmanin ordered increased security at synagogues and Jewish schools across France.
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, say this month In the first three months of 2024, France recorded more than 360 anti-Semitic incidents, including threats, attacks and other acts, a 300% increase on the previous year.
Yonathan Arfi, president of the French Council of Representatives of Jewish Institutions, after the Rouen attack social media posts”, “The burning of synagogues is an attempt to intimidate all Jews. “
Attacks and shootings in Rouen days later Paris Holocaust memorial vandalized. The monument, a wall of names honoring those who helped rescue French Jews during World War II, has been marred by red-hand graffiti.
