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Jewish Teen Assaulted in Lyon as France Faces Growing International Scrutiny Over Rising Antisemitism
Sign reading “+1000% of Antisemitic Acts: These Are Not Just Numbers” during a march against antisemitism, in Lyon, France, June 25, 2024. Photo: Romain Costaseca / Hans Lucas via Reuters Connect
French authorities have opened an investigation after a Jewish teenager was physically assaulted and subjected to antisemitic slurs while leaving a synagogue last week — among the latest in a surge of anti-Jewish hate crimes that has shaken France’s Jewish community since the start of the war in Gaza.
On Tuesday, the Lyon prosecutor’s office announced it had opened an investigation for “aggravated violence against a minor on religious grounds” following a complaint filed by the father of a Jewish teenager who was brutally assaulted while leaving a synagogue last Friday.
According to the complaint, the 14-year-old boy was “insulted with antisemitic remarks” and then beaten as he left the place of worship.
An unidentified man approached the victim, who was walking alone, and asked if he smoked. When the boy replied “no,” the man allegedly began hurling antisemitic insults before kicking him in the hip.
“Antisemitism is a poison that has no place in our republic,” Fabienne Buccio, prefect of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, said in a post on social media, adding that “state services are combating it with determination.”
The Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF), the main representative body of French Jews, also condemned the attack and warned of an “unprecedented wave of antisemitic acts” in Lyon and its surrounding region, expressing concern over a “poisoned atmosphere.”
This latest antisemitic incident comes amid growing international scrutiny of the French government over the rising tide of antisemitism in the country and its efforts to safeguard the local Jewish community.
On Monday, the French Foreign Ministry summoned US Ambassador Charles Kushner after he accused Paris of failing to act decisively against the rising antisemitism targeting France’s Jewish community.
In a letter to French President Emmanuel Macron, Kushner voiced his “deep concern over the dramatic rise of antisemitism in France” and criticized the French government for its “lack of sufficient action” to confront it.
However, French authorities rejected such claims as “unacceptable” and warned that Kushner’s letter violated international law.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar criticized France’s decision to summon Kushner, calling the move the “height of hypocrisy.”
“Instead of addressing the issue of the rising antisemitism in France in a substantive manner — France preaches against ‘interference in the internal affairs of states.’ The height of hypocrisy!” the top Israeli diplomat said in a post on X.
Earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also criticized Macron’s efforts to protect the French Jewish community, demanding stronger government action against the surge in hate crimes.
“Your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on this antisemitic fire,” Netanyahu wrote in his letter, referring to Macron’s recent announcement that France will recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly next month.
“It is not diplomacy, it is appeasement. It rewards Hamas terror, hardens Hamas’s refusal to free the hostages, emboldens those who menace French Jews,” the Israeli leader continued.
However, Macron strongly rejected these claims, insisting that the fight against antisemitism should not be “weaponized.”
“Protecting France’s Jewish citizens from the rise in antisemitism has been an absolute priority of mine from day one,” Macron wrote in a letter to Netanyahu.
“The fight must not be the subject of manipulation amid a conflict in the Middle East that affects France’s national cohesion and the security of its citizens,” he continued.
France’s Jewish community has faced a troubling surge in antisemitic incidents and anti-Israel sentiment since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Jewish leaders have consistently called on authorities to take swift action against the rising wave of targeted attacks and anti-Jewish hate crimes they continue to face.
According to the French Interior Ministry, 646 antisemitic incidents were recorded from January to June this year — a drop from the previous year’s first-half record high but a 112.5 percent increase compared with the same period in 2023, when 304 incidents were reported.
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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.