The incident comes amid concerns about rising antisemitism in Europe over Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza.
Topline
An armed man was shot and killed by police in the French city of Rouen on Friday while allegedly trying to set fire to a local synagogue, France’s interior minister said, days after a Holocaust memorial in Paris was vandalized with graffiti in an incident condemned by French leaders as antisemitic.Key Facts
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said police officers in Rouen “neutralized” an armed person “clearly intent on setting fire to the city’s synagogue.”
Darmanin congratulated the police for their “responsiveness” but did not provide any further details about the armed individual.
The city’s Mayor Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol also thanked the police for their response and said there were no other victims and firefighters were able to bring the fire at the synagogue under control.
