The National Antiterrorism Prosecutor’s Office said the attack was being investigated as an attempted assassination linked to a terrorist group and destruction of property with dangerous means.
Authorities have opened a terrorism investigation after an explosion outside a synagogue in southwestern France injured a police officer.
Two cars parked at the Beth Yaacov synagogue complex in the seaside resort town of La Grande Motte near Montpellier were set on fire just after 8am local time, the National Antiterrorism Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.
Firefighters discovered additional fires at two entrances to the synagogue. A police officer who walked up to the site was injured after a propane gas tank in one of the vehicles exploded, the statement said.
Five people, including the rabbi, who were present in the synagogue complex at the time of the attack were unharmed.
Prosecutors were investigating the attack as an attempted assassination linked to a terrorist group and destruction of property with dangerous means, the statement said.
Security forces also said a manhunt is under way to find the suspect.
The mayor of La Grande Motte, Stéphan Rossignol, said that investigators were reviewing the city’s surveillance videos and said that a lone suspect was spotted at the site of the attack.
“We don’t know if the individual has left the city or if he is still in the city,” Rossignol said in an interview with broadcaster France Info.
“The individual in question did not manage to get inside the synagogue, even though that was clearly his objective.”
Prosecutors said a male suspect spotted in surveillance videos fleeing the site was carrying a Palestinian flag and a weapon. They spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations amid an ongoing investigation.
President Emmanuel Macron called the attack a “terrorist act” and said “everything is being done to find (the) perpetrator.”
“The fight against antisemitism is a constant battle,” he said in a post on X.
Acting Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said the synagogue was targeted in a “shocking and appalling” act of violence.
“Once again, French Jews have been targeted and attacked because of their beliefs,” Attal said after meeting with local officials and the synagogue staff.
At least 200 police officers and other security personnel have been deployed to apprehend the perpetrator, Attal added.
Earlier, acting Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin ordered police reinforcement to protect Jewish places of worship and following what was “clearly a criminal act.”
He ordered more police officers deployed at Jewish places of worship around the country following a surge of antisemtisim since the start of the Israel-Hamas war last October.