French authorities have opened a preliminary investigation into three men in connection with the suspected terrorist attack on a synagogue in southern France last week.
The main suspect is accused of attempted murder with a terrorist motive. Two others are still being investigated for complicity with the perpetrator, the French anti-terrorism prosecutor said on Thursday.
Two of the men have been remanded in custody, while the third has been released under certain conditions.
Saturday’s attack targeted a synagogue in La Grande-Motte, near the southern city of Montpellier.
Two doors of the synagogue were set on fire, and two vehicles were also parked in front of the building.
A gas cylinder exploded in one of the vehicles, injuring a police officer. The five people who were in the synagogue at the time were unharmed.
The alleged perpetrator, a 33-year-old Algerian, was captured after a manhunt and is said to have confessed to the crime, saying he wanted to support the Palestinian cause and provoke a response from Israel.
According to the Public Prosecution Service, the man had been anti-Semitic for some time and had become further radicalized in recent months.
During the attack he was carrying an axe and a firearm and had a Palestinian flag tied around his waist.
Prosecutors accused the other two suspects of helping the alleged perpetrator flee from police, and one of them was also said to have known about the man’s plans for the attack.
The attack marks the first anti-terrorist investigation launched in France into anti-Semitic acts since the October 7 attacks that sparked the recent war in Gaza.
