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French Cops Arrest Assailant Who Beat, Abused Jewish Man as He Left Paris Synagogue
A pro-Hamas protester with a sign comparing the Auschwitz extermination camp with the current war in Gaza at a demonstration in Paris. Photo: Reuters/Henrique Campos
French police on Wednesday announced the arrest of a man alleged to have carried out a brutal antisemitic assault against a Jewish man as he left Friday night services at a Paris synagogue.
The unnamed assailant is reported to have a prior history of antisemitic acts, police sources told the news outlet Le Point. No further details have yet been released.
The 61-year-old victim, who wears a kippah, had just left the Beth Loubavitch synagogue on rue des Orteaux in the 20th arrondissement of the French capital last Friday evening when he was approached by the assailant. Speaking to broadcaster BFMTV, the victim recalled that the man had insulted him as a “dirty Jew,” before adding: “You kill people in Gaza.” The victim said he replied, “Me? I haven’t killed anyone.”
The assailant then attacked the victim, raining down a series of punches and kicks before fleeing the scene on foot. The victim briefly lost consciousness and was rushed to the hospital with a broken nose, cuts to his face, and severe pain in his jaw.
The victim emphasized that the feeling of being “belittled and humiliated” was worse than the physical pain he endured. “It reminds me of World War II, a return of Nazism — a new Nazism,” he said.
The attack was strongly denounced by French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, who confirmed over the weekend that he had instructed law enforcement across the country to reinforce their “surveillance of places frequented by our Jewish compatriots who must not become victims of the tragedies taking place in the Middle East.”
Darmanin had already been working on a series of measures to enhance security at Jewish institutions — including the presence of armed security personnel at Jewish schools, particularly when students are arriving or leaving — when news of the latest attack surfaced.
Antisemitic acts have risen precipitously in France since the Oct. 7 Hamas pogrom in southern Israel. During 2023, nearly 1,700 antisemitic acts were reported, the vast majority in the wake of the Hamas atrocities. A total of 1,242 attacks were reported during the final three months of last year, a 1,000 percent increase on the same period in 2022 and greater than the total number of attacks for the previous three years combined.
Corinne Serfati, the victim’s lawyer, praised the police for apprehending the assailant in a timely manner.
“I’m relieved and pleased by the speed of this arrest,” she told BFMTV. “My client is relieved, because since Friday he has been feeling absolute anguish.”
The attack has further boosted anxiety within the large Jewish community residing in the same neighborhood over their security.
“I’ve lived in this neighborhood since I was born,” Richard, a Jewish man in his thirties, told broadcaster Europe 1. “Since Oct. 7, unfortunately, we no longer have the opportunity to go out as before, when we went out wearing a kippah. We’re forced to hide.”
Lucas, a 17-year-old student who attends a high school in the district, said he had been confronted with a number of instances of antisemitism, including a crossed out Star of David next to a Palestinian flag. He added that his sister had been insulted for belonging to the “dirty Jewish race.” He said that his father had nonetheless assured him that the “Republic will protect us.”
The post French Cops Arrest Assailant Who Beat, Abused Jewish Man as He Left Paris Synagogue first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.