French authorities arrested yesterday the person responsible for the arson attack that burned down part of a synagogue in La Motta Grande, southern France, on Saturday, injuring a police officer. Initial investigations revealed that the fire broke out at around 8.30 am when two cars, one of which was storing a gas cylinder, caught fire. The officer was injured while trying to establish a security perimeter when a gas cylinder exploded from a barbecue grill in the synagogue’s courtyard. The French government described the incident as an “anti-Semitic act” and expressed its regret that “there is, and even more so since October 7, a climate fueled by some, confusion generated by some, which leads to the intensification of hatred towards Jews.” “In our country,” stressed outgoing Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, celebrating the averting of what could have been an “absolute tragedy,” saying: “We cannot accept that a French Jew is attacked because that is tantamount to attacking the entire French people.” Although the full identity of the arrested man has not been officially revealed, local sources say he is a 33-year-old man of Algerian nationality. Two other people from his entourage have also been arrested.
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