French Police Kill Man in His Attempted to Burn Synagogue

French police shot and killed an armed man who tried to set fire to a synagogue in Rouen, amid a surge of antisemitism in France and Western Europe.

French police opened fire and killed a man who was trying to light a fire in a synagogue in Rouen, a city in northwest France, early on Saturday morning, the country’s interior minister confirmed.

The man was armed with a knife and an iron bar and advanced toward police when they arrived at the scene around 6:45 a.m., the congratulations of the interior minister Gérald Darmanin was made after the smoke signal from the synagogue.

When the gunman continued to advance with weapons and did not drop them, police shot, hitting the man and he died according to Darmanin.

Firefighters were working to confine the flames that were burning inside the synagogue. Interior damage was noted to be considerable but there were no other victims reported, said the mayor of Rouen Nicolas Mayer-Rossignaol.

he prosector's office said that two probes are open - one into the attempted arson attack on the house of worship and another into the fatal shooting of the armed man by a policeman outside.

"I would want to commend police service for their promptness and bravery in dealing with the situation, as they did without any hesitation," said Darmanin.

The assault comes as a continuation of the rise in antisemitism and violence against Jews in the West European countries, particularly in France. The conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza caused the surge.

I recall reading in the news a few days ago that a memorial in Paris, which honors the victims and survivors of the Holocaust, had been defaced with red painted handprints. French President Emmanuel Macron did not just condemn the vandalism as bravery but indeed cowardly.

France is third after Israel and the United States to have the largest population of Jews in the world. Witnessing a rise in antisemitic actions and threats has made France's Jews fear for the safety that they enjoy as they go about their lives.

In 2018, an 85-year-old Holocaust survivor was assaulted and later died due to this crime, and prosecutors asserted that this was an antisemitic hate crime.

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It was not the first time that the streets of Rouen witnessed acts of religious violence. In 2016, a knife-wielding Islamic State staged a gruesome attack on an 86-year-old priest who was slaughtered by two jihadists during a morning Mass.