French authorities have launched a terror investigation after two cars were set ablaze outside a synagogue in the seaside resort town of La Grande-Motte, near Montpellier. The fires caused a violent explosion, injuring a police officer who was securing the area.
The alarm was raised early Saturday morning, August 24, at around 8:40 a.m. Local authorities confirmed that a gas cylinder stored in one of the burning cars caused the explosion, which damaged the synagogue’s entrance. The injured officer was rushed to a hospital in Montpellier, though no other injuries have been reported.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin confirmed that the situation is being handled by anti-terrorism prosecutors. He also announced reinforced protection for Jewish places of worship across the country in light of the attack. Police are currently searching for suspects,” Darmanin said in a statement, adding that all resources are being mobilized to find those responsible.
Local media outlets have reported that CCTV footage captured an individual leaving the scene just before the explosion. Authorities are investigating whether this person was involved in what has been described as a “clear criminal attack.
Yonathan Arfi, president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF), condemned the incident, describing it as “an attempt to kill Jews.” He noted that the gas cylinder detonated just as worshippers were expected to arrive at the synagogue.
France has seen an alarming rise in anti-Semitic acts in recent years, with tensions escalating amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in the Middle East. In May, an Algerian immigrant in France illegally was shot dead by police after throwing a Molotov cocktail through a synagogue window. In the same month, a Holocaust memorial in Paris was defaced.
Authorities are urging vigilance and ensuring the safety of religious communities across the country as the investigation into the La Grande-Motte incident continues.
Hussein Bourgi, a Socialist Senator for the Hérault department where La Grande-Motte is located, expressed solidarity with the Jewish community, stating, “I would like to express my full support to the Jewish community of La Grande-Motte as well as its president, Sabine Atlan.
