PARIS (JTA) — Two 16-year-olds were charged with exploding a car containing Molotov cocktails at the front gate of a French synagogue.
An abandoned second car containing unlit firebombs was also discovered near the synagogue in Toulouse after the explosion on Jan. 5.
Prosecutor Michel Valet said the suspects were charged and imprisoned Wednesday after being questioned by a judge the same morning.
In addition, the French interior minister, Michele Alliot-Marie, announced the detention Wednesday of four suspects for their involvement in the Jan. 11 firebombing of a synagogue in the northern Paris suburb Saint-Denis. Nine Molotov cocktails were launched at the synagogue and community center, and two exploded.
No injuries resulted from either synagogue bombing.
Meanwhile, a possibly racist attack by Jewish youth against three teens of "North African" origin is also under investigation, Alliot-Marie said in a statement. In that case, three minors were detained Wednesday for questioning.
Police have been instructed to heavily patrol "sensitive" buildings liable to be targeted due to continued tension between the Muslim and Jewish communities.
During Israel’s three-week operation in Gaza, violent anti-Semitic crimes rose sharply in France.
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