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Tunisia’s Jewish pilgrimage and Tuesday’s shooting, explained
(JTA) — When a security official opened fire outside a Tunisian synagogue during a pilgrimage on Tuesday night, killing two Jewish pilgrims and two security guards, he shattered what was meant to be a day of sacred celebration for the country’s Jews and their compatriots around the world.
The shooting at the synagogue in Djerba, an island in Tunisia, is the deadliest attack on the holy site in more than 20 years. It brought tragedy to a public celebration of Jewish life at Africa’s oldest Jewish house of worship.
Here’s an introduction to the Jews of Tunisia, the annual pilgrimage to Djerba and how the community is reacting to Tuesday’s attack.
Who are the Jews of Tunisia?
Jews have lived in Tunisia since ancient times. Archaeological evidence has shown that there was a Jewish community in the area that once surrounded the Roman city of Carthage, and Jewish life continued to exist there as the territory was conquered by Muslim empires, France and Nazi Germany. During the Holocaust, the Nazis seized Jewish property, put thousands of Jews in forced labor camps and persecuted them in other ways.
Tunisia gained independence in 1956. During and after Israel’s victory in the Six-Day War in 1967, Jews endured an increasingly hostile environment, including antisemitic riots and the torching of a synagogue in Tunis. In the years that followed, the vast majority of the country’s Jews emigrated, shrinking a Jewish population that once may have numbered more than 100,000 to around 1,000-1,500 today.
What is the Djerba synagogue, and why does it host an annual pilgrimage?
Tradition has it that the synagogue on the island of Djerba was founded at the time of the destruction of the First or Second Jewish Temple in Jerusalem in either 586 BCE or 70 C.E., and contains a stone from the temple. Today the synagogue, which was rebuilt in the 19th century, has rows of benches, brilliant white-and-blue arches as well as an outdoor arcade and other resplendent design features.
The synagogue’s name, El Ghriba, means “the isolated one” and comes from another legend. According to “A History of Jewish-Muslim Relations,” published in 2013, local Jews long ago found the body of a girl who lived and died alone — but whose body was miraculously preserved.
That incident was also the inspiration for the annual pilgrimage on the holiday of Lag B’Omer, which takes place each spring, a little more than a month after the beginning of Passover. Pilgrims who come to the synagogue pray, dance, sing, feast, light candles and write their wishes on hard-boiled eggs.
In the 1990s, the pilgrimage attracted some 10,000 people, according to a report in The Conversation, and attracts thousands today. Since 2011, Israelis have been able to enter the country for the pilgrimage even though Israel and Tunisia do not maintain diplomatic relations. Attendance dipped in the years following the 2011 Arab Spring, which began in Tunisia, and the pilgrimage was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A Djerba Jew praying at the El Ghriba Synagogue in 2012. (Wikimedia Commons)
Has the synagogue ever been attacked before?
Yes. In 2002, al-Qaeda set off a truck bomb near the synagogue that killed 20 people, most of them German tourists, about six weeks before the pilgrimage. Tunisia’s government denounced the attack and paid to restore the damage.
And in 2018, five men were arrested in connection with a firebomb attack at the synagogue. A suspicious fire also broke out at the synagogue in 1979.
How will this attack affect the pilgrimage?
Tuesday’s attack, and the fact that it was perpetrated by a security official, have led to despair among current and former pilgrims to the synagogue. Avi Chana, who has gone on the pilgrimage, told the Times of Israel, “I think it’s a death blow, at least for the foreseeable future, to a beautiful tradition and pilgrimage, and it is causing palpable pain. This is dealing the pilgrimage a mortal blow.” Another former pilgrim opted not to organize a group this year out of fears of an attack.
Tunisian President Kais Saied, who has been accused of gutting Tunisia’s democracy, is seeking to reassure future visitors that the country will be safe, and condemned the attack as “criminal and cowardly.”
“I want to reassure the Tunisian people and the whole world that Tunisia will remain safe despite this type of attempt intended to disturb its stability,” Saied said, according to the Times of Israel.
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The post Tunisia’s Jewish pilgrimage and Tuesday’s shooting, explained appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Board of Peace Members Have Pledged More Than $5 billion for Gaza, Trump Says
A drone view shows the destruction in a residential neighborhood, after the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the area, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in Gaza City, October 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas/File Photo
US President Donald Trump said Board of Peace member states will announce at an upcoming meeting on Thursday a pledge of more than $5 billion for reconstruction and humanitarian efforts in Gaza.
In a post on Truth Social on Sunday, Trump wrote that member states have also committed thousands of personnel toward a U.N.-authorized stabilization force and local police in the Palestinian enclave.
The US president said Thursday’s gathering, the first official meeting of the group, will take place at the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace, which the State Department recently renamed after the president. Delegations from more than 20 countries, including heads of state, are expected to attend.
The board’s creation was endorsed by a United Nations Security Council resolution as part of the Trump administration’s plan to end the war between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in Gaza.
Israel and Hamas agreed to the plan last year with a ceasefire officially taking effect in October, although both sides have accused each other repeatedly of violating the ceasefire. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, more than 590 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops in the territory since the ceasefire began. Israel has said four of its soldiers have been killed by Palestinian militants in the same period.
While regional Middle East powers including Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Israel – as well as emerging nations such as Indonesia – have joined the board, global powers and traditional Western US allies have been more cautious.
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Turkey Sends Drilling Ship to Somalia in Major Push for Energy Independence
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a ceremony for the handover of new vehicles to the gendarmerie and police forces in Istanbul, Turkey, Nov. 28, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Murad Sezer
i24 News – Turkey has dispatched a drilling vessel to Somalia to begin offshore oil exploration, marking what officials describe as a historic step in Ankara’s drive to strengthen energy security and reduce reliance on imports.
Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar announced that the drilling ship Çagri Bey is set to sail from the port of Taşucu in southern Turkey, heading toward Somali territorial waters.
The vessel will pass through the Strait of Gibraltar and around the coast of southern Africa before reaching its destination, with drilling operations expected to begin in April or May.
Bayraktar described the mission as a “historic” milestone, saying it reflects Turkey’s long-term strategy to enhance national energy security and move closer to self-sufficiency.
The operation will be protected by the Turkish Naval Forces, which will deploy several naval units to secure both the vessel’s route and the drilling area in the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea. The security arrangements fall under existing cooperation agreements between Ankara and Somalia.
The move aligns with a broader vision promoted by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, aimed at reducing Turkey’s dependence on foreign energy supplies, boosting domestic production, and shielding the economy from external pressures.
Bayraktar said Turkey is also working to double its natural gas output in the Black Sea this year, while continuing offshore exploration along its northern coastline. In parallel, Ankara is preparing to bring its first nuclear reactor online at the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, which is expected to begin generating electricity soon and eventually supply about 10% of the country’s energy needs.
The current drilling effort is based on survey data collected last year and forms part of Ankara’s wider plan to expand its energy exploration activities both regionally and internationally.
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Syria Expected to Form a New Government, Appoint a PM with US Support
Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a Ministerial formation of the government of the Syrian Arab Republic, in Damascus, Syria, March 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
i24 News – Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa is expected to launch in the coming weeks a workshop to form a new, inclusive Syrian government with expanded powers, a Syrian source close to President al-Sharaa tells i24NEWS. This government will include figures from across the spectrum of Syrian society in a bid to address the concerns of minority groups. Those chosen will be individuals who enjoy both local and international legitimacy.
i24NEWS has learned that a prominent candidate considered for the post of prime minister is veteran Syrian politician Fahad al-Masri, chairman of the Syrian Liberal Party. A US official says that the Trump administration “appreciates al-Masri’s support for Washington’s positions regarding Syria and the region, and that Syria would be well-served with him in an influential role.”
The Syrian source tells me that the new Syrian government will adopt “a phased plan to merge several ministries to achieve greater integration and efficiency.”
According to the US official, the workshop to form a new government is among several ideas that have been floated and discussed in order to reach a more permanent, non-transitional government.
The official said that US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack’s decision to drop support for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is partly because he believes Syria’s Kurds must be part of the government in Damascus in order to grant it greater legitimacy.
“Making known that the SDF’s mandate has expired from Washington’s point of view is an avenue to encouraging the Kurds to integrate and speed up the process of forming that broad, inclusive government,” the US official said.
i24NEWS reached out to Fahad al-Masri to ask about his readiness to assume the role of prime minister in the upcoming Syrian government. Al-Masri declined to confirm or deny his nomination but stressed that “the priority must remain the stability and unity of Syria rather than individual roles.”
Al-Masri expressed his deep appreciation for President Trump and the US administration’s stance on Syria, describing it as “principled and strategically significant.” Al-Masri underscored his confidence in President al-Sharaa’s leadership during this pivotal period, affirming that the success of the transitional phase is vital for national interest and regional stability.