‘Cowardly aggression’: Tunisia synagogue attack kills two Jewish cousins and a guard

Two Jewish cousins and a guard were killed in an attack on a synagogue in Tunisia on Tuesday. Nine other people were injured. 

According to Tunisian authorities, a naval officer opened carried out a shooting attack at the El Ghriba synagogue on the island of Djerba.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Wednesday morning, saying the two Jewish worshippers who were killed were cousins, one whom was an Israeli citizen.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is in contact with the family members of the deceased and is prepared to assist additional Israelis as needed,” the ministry said.

The Tunisian Interior Ministry said that “investigations are continuing in order to shed light on the motives for this cowardly aggression.”

The attack came as over 5,000 people, most of whom were Jewish worshippers from abroad, attended the annual pilgrimage to the El Ghriba synagogue, the oldest in Africa.

“Police presence was incredibly heavy. A huge operation all around a radius of about a mile around the synagogue. Concrete anti-terrorist barriers at the approach to the synagogue,” a British Jew who visited the synagogue for the first day of the pilgrimage on Monday told Jewish News.

“Twenty or thirty four-wheel drive police vehicles lined the entrance to the synagogue, and inside the packed open courtyard where the festival is celebrated uniformed officers lined the walls. Armed police were also stationed all round the neighbourhood on the approach to El Ghriba including in the artists’ quarter known as Djerbahood,” the person added.

The synagogue has previously been attacked, most notably in 2002 when al-Qaeda terrorists killed more than 20 people in a bomb attack.

An Israeli eyewitness told Army Radio an atmosphere of “panic” in the synagogue. “Everyone was trying to find their children. I held my daughters hand and tried to get out,” the eyewitness said.