Tunisia synagogue capturing: Gunman kills 3 amid Jewish pilgrimage

5 safety brokers and 4 guests had been injured within the assault. One of many safety brokers died of his accidents Wednesday, Tunisian media reported.

These slain included two guests, a 30-year-old Tunisian and a 42-year-old French nationwide, and three safety officers, in keeping with statements from the Tunisian International Ministry. The ministry stated Wednesday that the guests killed had been Jewish pilgrims.

Former tourism minister René Trabelsi, a outstanding member of the Tunisian Jewish neighborhood who was on the synagogue on the time of the assault, instructed Tunisian radio that the slain guests had been Aviel Haddad and his French Tunisian cousin Benjamin Haddad, who had traveled from his dwelling in Marseille, France, for the non secular occasion. Aviel Haddad additionally held Israeli citizenship, Israeli media reported.

Aviel Haddad’s sister, Rona, instructed Israeli radio the household had immigrated to Israel from Tunisia, the Related Press reported. Her brother, who was a jeweler, typically visited Djerba.

Israeli International Minister Eli Cohen spoke with the chief rabbi of Tunis, Haim Bitan, to precise Israel’s solidarity with the Jewish neighborhood in Tunisia and supply help, in keeping with the AP. Tunisia and Israel shouldn’t have formal diplomatic relations.

Benjamin Haddad was a bakery proprietor, father of 4 and energetic member of the Jewish neighborhood in Marseille, Fabienne Bendayan, president of the Marseille regional chapter of the Consultant Council of Jewish Establishments of France, stated in an announcement Wednesday.

Yearly, Jewish worshipers journey to Djerba, dwelling to one of many largest Jewish communities within the Arab world. The island can be dwelling to the two,500-year-old Ghriba synagogue — Africa’s oldest.

Movies posted to social media, which The Washington Put up was unable to confirm, present chaotic scenes contained in the synagogue because the assault unfolded outdoors.

Authorities didn’t establish the shooter or specify a motive. The Inside Ministry stated Tuesday that it was investigating “the explanations for this treacherous and cowardly assault.”

Fethi Bakkouche, a spokesman for the regional court docket, instructed Agence France-Presse {that a} preliminary legal investigation had been opened.

In an announcement Wednesday, the Tunisian International Ministry expressed its condolences to households of the victims of the “cowardly assault.”

“This assault on harmless individuals will solely strengthen the unity of the nation and its dedication to proceed its relentless resistance to all types of crime and to defeat these behind it,” the assertion stated.

President Kais Saied convened a gathering of his nationwide safety council Wednesday to debate the capturing, which he blamed on “criminals” looking for to destabilize Tunisian society and disrupt tourism. He didn’t point out antisemitism or describe the capturing as terrorism — despite the fact that the more and more authoritarian chief has earlier than described political opponents as terrorists, with out proof.

“I wish to take this event additionally to reassure the Tunisian individuals and the entire world that Tunisia will stay protected,” he stated in introductory remarks revealed on the presidency’s Fb web page.

Saied provided condolences to the households of these killed and wished the injured a full restoration.

Condolences and condemnation poured in from French officers, and the French Embassy opened a “disaster cell” Tuesday night time to answer the assault. The French International Ministry decried the “odious act” in a assertion Wednesday.

“We stand alongside Tunisia to proceed the battle in opposition to antisemitism and all types of fanaticism,” the ministry stated.

U.S. State Division spokesman Matthew Miller condemned the assault Tuesday night time in a assertion on Twitter and praised the swift intervention of Tunisian safety forces.

Deborah Lipstadt, the U.S. envoy to observe and fight antisemitism, wrote Wednesday on Twitter: “I’m sickened and heartbroken by the deadly, antisemitic assault focusing on the Ghriba synagogue in Djerba throughout the Lag B’Omer celebrations, with hundreds of Jewish pilgrims in attendance.”

Lipstadt, together with Joey Hood, U.S. ambassador to Tunisia, had visited the synagogue the day earlier than to open the pilgrimage celebration, in keeping with a tweet by the U.S. Embassy in Tunis, the nation’s capital.

“This instance of coexistence in Tunisia reinforces our shared dedication to multiculturalism and the safety of spiritual freedom,” the U.S. Embassy wrote.

Tuesday’s capturing was the primary main assault within the North African nation since 2020, when a suicide blast outdoors the U.S. Embassy in Tunis killed a safety officer.

The assault comes as Tunisia is dealing with a significant financial disaster, and it may auger bother for the nation’s tourism sector, a pillar of the financial system. Tourism Minister Mohamed Moez Belhassine sought Wednesday to reassure guests that the nation was protected and that scheduled flights to Tunisia would proceed as regular, state information company TAP reported.

The Ghriba synagogue has been focused earlier than, in April 2002, when an attacker linked to al-Qaeda killed 21 individuals, largely German vacationers, by detonating a truck stuffed with explosives. The synagogue has since tightened safety.