Police are investigating arson at a Melbourne synagogue as an act of terrorism

Australian police said Monday they are investigating a fire at a synagogue in the southern city of Melbourne on Friday that left two people slightly injured and severely damaged as a “terrorist incident.”

“This is likely a politically motivated attack. This is now a terrorism investigation,” Australian Federal Police (AFP) Deputy Commissioner Krissy Barrett said at a press conference in Melbourne today.

The decision, which gives authorities more powers to investigate and arrest suspects and allocate more financial and intelligence resources, was taken at the end of a meeting between representatives of the AFP and the Police of the state of Victoria, whose capital is Melbourne, to classify this deliberate arson.

This conclusion was reached after investigations carried out by officers over the weekend yielded “information and evidence” to determine that it was a “terrorist attack,” explained Victoria Police Commissioner Shane Patton at a press conference.

Asserting that there is no indication of a new attack on another synagogue in his jurisdiction, Shane said that for now the authorities are trying to locate three suspects in the attack, without giving further details.

In her turn, Victorian Prime Minister Jacinta Allan reiterated that in the face of this “horrible, evil and anti-Semitic attack, which we now know to be a terrorist attack”, the thoughts of her fellow citizens are with the Jewish community in Melbourne.

The fire, which broke out at around 4:10 a.m. local time (17:10 GMT Thursday) at the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne's southeast, caused significant damage to the building, though no one was seriously injured despite an undetermined number of members of the congregation being inside for morning prayers.

Since the start of the war between Israel and the Islamic terrorist group Hamas in October last year, there have been reports of attacks against Jewish Australians, a community that represents 0,4% of the population of more than 26 million people.

The Canberra government has repeatedly expressed concern about the division created in Australian society following the war in Gaza, and has even created two special posts to combat growing anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in the southern nation. EFE and Aurora