A Jewish religious school in Montreal, Quebec, already targeted this week by gunfire, was again the target of gunfire on Sunday, without causing any injuries, municipal police announced, against a backdrop of tensions linked to the conflict in the Middle East. East.
“Around 5 a.m., several calls were received at 911 (police, editor’s note) for gunshots heard by citizens,” said police spokesperson Véronique Dubuc. When they arrived on the scene, in the French-speaking Canadian province, the police discovered “projectiles on the facade” of the school and shell casings were also found on the ground, she said.
No one inside at the time of the shooting
Police confirmed that “no one” was inside the school at the time of the shooting. Witnesses said they saw a vehicle flee “quickly” after the shooting, she added. This establishment is one of two Jewish schools in Montreal which, during the night from Thursday to Friday, were targeted by gunfire, causing shock waves in Quebec.
The Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Quebec François Legault as well as the mayor of Montreal Valérie Plante all condemned this act of violence and appealed for calm. Also in the Quebec metropolis, two Molotov cocktails targeted a synagogue last week, lightly damaging the building without causing any injuries.
Resurgence of anti-Semitic acts
At Concordia University, two student groups claiming to be pro-Israeli and the other pro-Palestinian came to blows on Wednesday, injuring three people, according to the establishment. Police arrested a woman for “assault,” or physical assault.
This new attack on a Jewish school in Quebec comes at a time when many countries around the world, particularly in Europe, are facing a resurgence of anti-Semitic acts since Israel began relentlessly shelling the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory. besieged.
These bombings were launched in response to the attack on October 7 by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, in power in Gaza, which killed 1,200 people, mainly civilians, according to the Israeli authorities. Israeli bombings have killed more than 11,000 people, mostly civilians, including 4,506 children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.