French police on Friday shot and killed an armed man who was allegedly trying to set fire to a synagogue in the northern city of Rouen. \u201cNational police in Rouen neutralised early this morning an armed individual who clearly wanted to set fire to the city\u2019s synagogue,\u201d Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote on X. Police responded at 6:45am local time to reports of a \u201cfire near the synagogue\u201d, a police source said. A source close to the case told AFP that the man \u201cwas armed with a knife and an iron bar, he approached police, who fired. The individual died\u201d. \u201cIt is not only the Jewish community that is affected. It is the entire city of Rouen that is bruised and in shock,\u201d Rouen Mayor Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol wrote on X. He made clear there were no other victims other than the attacker. Two separate investigations have been opened, one into the fire at the synagogue and another into the circumstances of the death of the individual killed by the police, Rouen prosecutors said. Investigations by France\u2019s police inspectorate general are automatically launched whenever an individual is killed by the police. The man threatened a police officer with a knife and the latter used his service weapon, said the Rouen prosecutor. The dead man was not immediately identified, a police source said. Asked by AFP, the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor\u2019s Office said it is currently assessing whether it will take up the case. France has the largest Jewish community of any country after Israel and the United States, as well as Europe\u2019s largest Muslim community. There have been tensions in France in the wake of the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, followed by the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip. Red hand graffiti was painted onto France\u2019s Holocaust Memorial earlier this week, prompting anger including from President Emmanuel Macron who condemned \u201codious anti-Semitism\u201d. \u201cAttempting 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 anti-Semitism means defending the Republic,\u201d Yonathan Arfi, the president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF) wrote on X. France was hit in 2015 by a spate of Islamist attacks that also hit Jewish targets. There have been isolated attacks in recent months and France\u2019s security alert remains at its highest level.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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