French police kill man who tried to set fire to synagogue

French police shot and killed an armed individual who reportedly intended to set fire to a synagogue in the northern city of Rouen, France's Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Friday.

"National police in Rouen neutralized early this morning an armed individual who clearly wanted to set fire to the city's synagogue," Darmanin said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

What do we know about the suspected synagogue attack?

The Franceinfo broadcaster reported police were called to the scene early on Friday because smoke was billowing from the synagogue.

Rouen Mayor Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol said a man is believed to have mounted a trash container and thrown "a sort of Molotov cocktail" into the synagogue grounds, starting a fire and causing "significant damage."

According to police, officers spotted "an individual stood on the [outside] wall of the synagogue carrying a crowbar and a 25-centimeter (9-inch) knife [which he] brandished moving towards officers who shot."

Rouen city prosecutor Frederic Teillet told the AFP news agency that "an individual set fire to the synagogue and [then] challenged police and firefighters. He then threatened a police officer with a knife, the officer made use of his firearm and the individual has died."

A resident told AFP that they heard shots and an explosion before seeing smoke rising from the synagogue and later the body of the attacker on the ground.

Rouen prosecutors said that they had opened investigations into the fire at the synagogue, as well as a separate probe into the circumstances of the death of the man killed by police.

"It is not only the Jewish community that is affected. It's the entire city of Rouen that is bruised and in shock," Mayor Mayer-Rossignol said on X.

He said that there were no victims besides the attacker.

French minister condemns 'antisemitic attack'

Speaking to reporters outside the synagogue later on Friday afternoon, Interior Minister Darmanin condemned what he called an "antisemitic attack" and expressed his solidarity with French Jews.

"We recognize that the threat to the Jewish community is severe," he said. "But whatever the threat, Jews should know that they will be protected in France. We are determined to continue to protect the entirety of Jewish life in France so that Jews can practice their religion without fear."

Darmanin thanked the responsiveness of the police, especially for having deployed more patrols around religious sites recently.

He commended in particular the young police officer, who he said was just 25 years old, who neutralized the threat, calling his actions "extremely brave and extremely professional" and thanking him for "protecting the values of the Republic."

He said the deceased assailant was not a French citizen but a man of "Algerian origin" who had applied for medical permission to stay in France. This application had been rejected but the man had remained in France pending an appeal.

Antisemitic incidents in France

Yonathan Arfi, who heads the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France, condemned what he called an "attempt to intimidate all Jews" in a post on X.

"Attempting to burn a synagogue is an attempt to intimidate all Jews. Once again, there is an attempt to impose a climate of terror on the Jews of our country. Combating antisemitism means defending the [French] Republic," he said.

France has the largest Jewish community in Europe.

The country has seen an increase in anti-Semitic incidents since the start of the war between Israel and the Hamas militant Islamist group on October 7.

Earlier this week, red hand graffiti was painted onto France's Holocaust Memorial, an act described by President Emmanuel Macron as "odious antisemitism."

France recently raised its alert status to its highest level.

sdi/ab (AFP, Reuters, AP)