Police officer injured in explosion outside France synagogue

“This is an antisemitic attack. Once more, our Jewish compatriots are targeted,” Attal said on X. “We won’t give up. In the face of anti-Semitism, in the face of violence, we will never allow ourselves to be intimidated.”

Two cars outside the synagogue in La Grande-Motte, a Mediterranean coastal city near Montpellier, burst into flames after a gas canister likely exploded inside one of the vehicles, police said.

Local media reported that the incident happened at about 8:30am (06:30 GMT).

“Exploding a gas bottle in a car in front of the Grande Motte synagogue at the expected time of arrival of the faithful: it’s not just attacking a place of worship, it’s an attempt to kill Jews,” Yonathan Arfi, who leads the CRIF, an umbrella organisation of French Jewish groups, said on X.

Two doors of the synagogue were also set on fire. It is unclear whether this happened before or after the explosion.

William Maury, of the police union Alliance Police Nationale, told BFM TV the injured police officer’s life was not in danger.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said police protection of synagogues and Jewish schools and shops would be strengthened across France.

He said the incident was being treated as an “attempted arson” that is “clearly a criminal act”.

“I want to assure our Jewish fellow citizens of my full support and say that at the request of President Emmanuel Macron all means are being mobilised to find the perpetrator,” Darmanin said in a post on X.