Gabès – Hundreds of Tunisians reportedly burnt the el-Hamma Synagogue on Tuesday evening, according to videos and images posted on TikTok and X/Twitter. In the initial videos, no police or emergency services are seen responding to the incident.
The synagogue, located in the Gabès Governorate, does not function as a place of worship since there is currently no Jewish community that lives in the town of el-Hamma, according to The Geo-Museum of North African and Middle Eastern Jewish Life.
Videos posted the morning after show much of the synagogue complex burnt, with Arabic graffiti sprayed on the walls of synagogue rooms which remained intact.
The synagogue attack came hours after false media reports claimed that the Israel Defense Forces had bombed the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza. US and Israeli officials, along with independent intelligence analysts, have all concluded that the blast was due to an errant rocket launched by the Gaza-based Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group.
As of this writing, the Tunisia synagogue attack has not yet been reported by Tunisian or international media.
The synagogue burning came after a deadly terrorist attack in May against the historic El Ghriba Synagogue on the island of Djerba.
That attack was carried out by a naval officer serving on the island who shot dead one of his colleagues at his base before collecting more ammunition and traveling nine miles to the synagogue, where he opened fire on guards at the entrance, according to the Tunisian Interior Ministry. Four people were killed during the assault, including two security guards and a pair of cousins — Benjamin Haddad, a 42-year-old French citizen, and Aviel Haddad, a 30-year-old holder of French and Israeli passports who lived in Israel. Four worshipers and six security officers were wounded and rushed to hospital.
