Flag of Tunisia
Flag of TunisiaiStock

Unknown individuals set fire to a synagogue in Sfax, the second largest city in Tunisia, Ynet reported.

No one was harmed in the arson attack, which occurred on Sunday. Tunisian media outlets reported that the fire erupted in the synagogue's courtyard, resulting in the burning of 12 palm trees.

Additionally, some of the synagogue's windows were damaged.

A rescue services officer in the city stated that firefighters managed to extinguish the flames and prevent them from spreading to the synagogue building itself. He added that, simultaneously, another fire broke out on the roof of a nearby residential building, and that fire was also extinguished.

Sfax, once home to many Jewish families, is now devoid of Jews and the synagogue has been abandoned.

In October, weeks after the Hamas attack on Israel and the war in Gaza which followed, hundreds of people were filmed setting fire to a synagogue in the central Tunisian city of Al Hammah.

The site sustained heavy damage, including to the fenced-off grave of a 16th-century rabbi that been a historic pilgrimage site for some Jews.

Tunisia had over 100,000 Jewish residents in the mid-1950s, but most of them have left, save for some 1,500 Jews who are mostly on the island of Djerba, site of the oldest synagogue in Africa.

Tunisia, like most Arab countries, does not have diplomatic relations with Israel. After several Arab countries normalized ties with Israel in 2020 as part of the Abraham Accords, Tunisia reiterated it is not interested in establishing diplomatic relations with Israel and its position will not be affected by any international changes.