French police arrest man for knife attack in name of Hamas, days before Olympics
Authorities say suspect, already known to police as radicalized, asked cab driver to take him to isolated area, then bound and attacked him; victim escaped
French police arrested a man Friday on terrorism charges, accusing him of trying to murder a taxi driver with a knife while expressing support for the Hamas terror group, a source at the terrorism prosecutor’s office said.
The arrest came just one week before the start of the Paris Olympic Games.
The suspected terrorist, already known by authorities as someone who had been radicalized, stopped a taxi on Tuesday night while brandishing a gun in the city of Le Mans, and asked to be taken to an isolated area near Ferte-Bernard.
He then forced the driver out of the car, bound him and attacked his neck with the blade, the source said.
The driver managed to escape to a local resident’s home, where he was eventually treated by emergency services. The assailant was arrested early on Friday morning in Yvelines, west of Paris, the source said.
He is being investigated on terrorism, attempted murder and kidnapping charges, the source said.
France is on its highest state of security as it gears up to host millions of visitors, athletes and world leaders during the Paris Olympic Summer Games, kicking off on July 26.
The games come as Israel fights a war against Hamas, following the terror group’s October 7 attack last year, when thousands of terrorists invaded southern Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.
Israel’s response — aimed at destroying the terror group, returning the hostages, and preventing the enclave from posing a security threat — has exacted a heavy toll on Palestinians in Gaza.
France has seen rising antisemitism since the start of the war — in June, two 13-year-old boys were charged with the antisemitic gang rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl in a Paris suburb. Later that month, prosecutors charged two teenagers with planning a terror attack on Jewish targets.
