Masked arsonists set fire to a synagogue in the Australian city of Melbourne in an early morning attack on Friday that drew widespread condemnation, police said.
The fire broke out at the Adas Israel Synagogue at 4:10 a.m. (1710 GMT) with few people already inside, incinerating much of the building in the Melbourne south-east suburb of Ripponlea, police said.
No serious injuries were reported.
Detective Inspector Chris Murray, of the Victorian Police arson and explosives squad, told reporters at the scene that a witness entering the synagogue for morning prayers saw “two individuals wearing masks”.
“It appears they were spreading some type of accelerant on the premises,” he said.
The synagogue was “engulfed in flames”, he said.
“We believe it was intentional. We believe it was targeted. We don’t know why.”
He said police would increase patrolling as they were searching for the arsonists, who were wearing black clothes.
Detectives will look at CCTV footage and interview witnesses, Murray said.
Television images showed firefighters extinguishing embers through a black door of the one-story building, whose facade is made of gray concrete.
Benjamin Klein, a board member of the synagogue, said some people were sitting inside and praying when the fire broke out.
“They heard a huge bang,” Klein told AFP.
‘Completely ruined’
Liquid was poured inside the synagogue and set on fire, he said.
“If this had happened an hour later, there would have been hundreds of people inside,” Klein said.
He said, “Congregants ran to the back of the synagogue. One person who ran outside — his hand was burned.”
“The fire was widespread,” he told AFP.
“Completely burnt inside.”
Holy books and furniture have been destroyed, he said, although he vowed that the community will “rebuild”.
Members of the congregation formed a human chain to remove religious items from the damaged synagogue, including Torah scrolls – one of which was brought to Australia from Germany in World War II, the Age newspaper reported.
Klein said the synagogue has increased security over the past 12 months amid security concerns, without providing further details.
In 1995, the synagogue was damaged by a deliberately set fire, burning the walls and Torah scrolls.
Klein, who was a child at the time, said he remembered standing inside the damaged synagogue with his grandfather, whom he said was a Holocaust survivor.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese “unequivocally” condemned the fire and said federal police would assist the state in its investigation.
“This violence and intimidation and destruction at a place of worship is an outrage,” Albanese said in a statement.
“This attack has put people’s lives at risk and is clearly intended to create fear in the community.”
The Prime Minister said he has “zero tolerance” for anti-Semitism.
“It has no place in Australia.”
‘Fear’
The war in Gaza has sparked protests by supporters of Israel and Palestinians in cities around Australia, like much of the world.
Daniel Aghion, chairman of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said the community had been living in fear of such an incident since the start of the war in Gaza.
“For us, this is evidence of that fear,” he told reporters.
“This is something that is the biggest manifestation of what we are seeing and hearing in terms of threatening e-mails, threatening social media, threatening letters and all kinds of other material.”
Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack triggered the Gaza War, resulting in the deaths of 1,208 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Israeli retaliatory strikes have killed at least 44,580 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run health ministry considered reliable by the United Nations.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
