Jewish woman stabbed in France in suspected case of hate crime

A Jewish woman, believed to be in her 30s, was stabbed and the Nazi symbol Hakenkreuz was drawn on the door of her house in a suspected case of hate crime.

The woman is said to have suffered mild injuries, and is recuperating well, her lawyer told the local media.

On Saturday (Nov 4), an unidentified man, wearing all black and with his face hidden, knocked on the woman’s door in Lyon and stabbed in her stomach twice.

The assailant later fled the scene and was still on the run.

The woman managed to call her cousin for help, who called the emergency services and found the swastika, according to local media reports.

Jewish community shocked

“The victim, her family and the Jewish community are shocked... When we opened the door, we did not know that we could be the victim of an anti-Semitic attack, which could amount to an attempted murder,” Stéphane Drai, the woman’s lawyer, told local broadcaster BFMTV.

Police are yet to book the case as an anti-Semitic hate crime.

Mayor of Lyon, Grégory Doucet, expressed his disgust over the attack on social media X.

“Such a surge of violence is unspeakable. All my support to the victim, to herloved ones.”

Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions condemned the "abominable assault" and said it caused great concern for the Jewish community, but said it was up to the courts to determine whether it had been anti-Semitic, Sky News reported.

Rise of anti-Semtisim after Israel-Hamas war

There has been a rise in targeted attacks against the Jews across the world ever since the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7.

The Telegraph newspaper reported that there have been more than 850 anti-Semitic acts in France since the Hamas attack.

On Wednesday, French prosecutors also opened a probe over a video showing anti-Semitic chants by a group of youths.

At least 1,500 Israelis, including civilians and soldiers, were killed in the terrorist attack.

Around 9,500 have died in the Gaza Strip, with half of them women and children, due to the Israeli bombardments in the region, the Hamas-run government said.

(With inputs from agencies)