The incident marks the first attack on foreign visitors in Tunisia since 2015 and the first targeting the pilgrimage since a deadly suicide truck bombing in 2002.
The assailant, a police officer himself, gunned down two visitors, one of whom was identified as a 30-year-old Tunisian, and the other as a 42-year-old French national. The identities of the victims have not been released. Additionally, the attacker killed two fellow officers before being shot dead by security forces.
The interior ministry stated that the assailant had first killed a colleague and seized his ammunition before launching the attack at the synagogue, triggering panic among the hundreds of visitors present. Four other visitors and five police officers were wounded during the incident.
Authorities are conducting investigations to uncover the motives behind this aggression, although the interior ministry has refrained from classifying it as a terrorist attack. Meanwhile, both the French and United States governments have strongly condemned the shooting rampage.
Anne-Claire Legendre, a spokeswoman for the French foreign ministry, expressed the government’s condemnation of the “heinous act.” Similarly, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller deplored the attack on Twitter, offering condolences to the Tunisian people and commending the swift action taken by the security forces.
The Ghriba synagogue, located on the island of Djerba, holds immense significance to the Jewish community and attracts thousands of faithful from around the world each year. Organizers reported that over 5,000 Jewish pilgrims, primarily from overseas, participated in this year’s pilgrimage. The event had only recently resumed in 2022 following a two-year suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Jewish community in Tunisia has dwindled significantly over the years, with only approximately 1,500 members remaining, most of whom reside on Djerba. Prior to the country’s independence in 1956, the Jewish population stood at around 100,000. Despite the decline, pilgrims from Europe, the United States, and Israel continue to travel to Ghriba to participate in this cherished tradition, although numbers have decreased since the 2002 bombing.
The tragic incident occurred as Tunisia’s tourism industry has been recovering from the lows brought about by the pandemic and the aftermath of the 2015 attacks in Tunis and Sousse, which claimed the lives of numerous foreign tourists. Tunisia, which experienced a surge in Islamist militancy after the Arab Spring in 2011, has made significant strides in combating terrorism in recent years, according to authorities.
The attack on Ghriba comes amid a severe financial crisis in Tunisia that has worsened since President Kais Saied assumed power in July 2021. Saied implemented constitutional changes that expanded his authority and weakened the parliament, exacerbating the country’s ongoing political challenges and economic woes.
