Rouen: Man shot dead after French synagogue set on fire

Inspecting the damage inside the synagogue, Rabbi Shmouel Lubecki said the city's small community was devastated by the attack.

"The message the community needs to hear is we mustn't give up. We must be able to practise our Judaism in complete freedom; antisemites cannot destroy us. " he told BFMTV. "So we're asking the community to light the candles this sabbath evening and come to the synagogue if you can."

Mr Teillet said two investigations were under way - into an arson attack on a place of worship and into the use of a police weapon outside the building.

Although the officer was currently in custody, the prosecutor said that video footage indicated he had used his gun "according to conditions allowed by the internal security code".

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin visited the synagogue and praised police for their fast response and their courage in tackling the attacker.

"I want to reiterate, on this sabbath evening, that at the interior ministry we are extremely determined to protect France's entire Jewish community, wherever they are, and that they must practise their religion without fear."

Little is known about the suspected attacker, who was not carrying any form of identity at the time. French media report that he was a 29-year-old Algerian who was in the process of appealing against an expulsion order from French authorities.

France, in common with the rest of Western Europe, has seen a surge in antisemitism since Hamas attacked southern Israel last October leading to the current war in Gaza.

Earlier this week a memorial in Paris that honours 3,900 men and women who helped rescue Jews during the Nazi occupation of France in World War Two was daubed with red-painted hands.

President Emmanuel Macron said defacing the wall undermined the memory of France's heroes and its victims of the Holocaust.

France has the third largest Jewish community in the world, after Israel and the US.

The head of France's Council of Jewish Institutions (Crif), Yonathan Arfi, said that "setting a synagogue on fire - that's intending to intimidate every Jew".

Another leading figure in the Jewish community, Elie Korchia, thanked police for their quick response to "a new antisemitic drama in our country".

The president of Rouen's Union of Muslims, Imam Bachar El Sayidi, visited the synagogue on Friday in a message of solidarity: "We firmly condemn what has happened. If a mosque was attacked it would be no different."

Rouen's places of worship have come under attack in the past. Eight years ago a priest was fatally stabbed while leading a church service.

The latest violence comes days after gunmen shot dead two prison officers in an ambush at a motorway toll south of the city. Convicted prisoner Mohamed Amra escaped during the attack and his still on the run.