Fire crews work at the scene of a fire at the Adass Israel Synagogue in Ripponlea, Melbourne, Australia, on Friday. The fire, which engulfed the synagogue in the morning hours on Friday, is being treated as deliberate. Photo by EPA-EFE/CON CHRONIS AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT
Dec. 6 (UPI) — Authorities in Australia are hunting two suspects accused of setting fire to a Melbourne synagogue early Friday in what Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called “an act of hate.”
Emergency crews were called to Adass Israel on Glen Eira Avenue at about 4:10 a.m. local time, Victoria Police said in a statement.
When firefighters arrived at the scene minutes later, they found the single-story building fully engulfed in a three-alarm fire, according to a statement from Fire Rescue Victoria, which said the blaze was declared under control minutes before 5 a.m.
However, “the synagogue sustained significant damage,” the police department said.
Authorities said a witness reported seeing two men inside the synagogue pouring liquid on the floor prior to the fire igniting. The suspects fled the scene when disturbed by the male witness, who sustained minor injuries to his hand in the incident, they said.
“Police are working to establish the exact circumstances of the fire and at this stage believe it was a targeted incident,” Victoria Police said, adding that the fire is being investigated by Arson and Explosives Squad detectives.
Det. Insp. Chris Murray told reporters in a press briefing that the two suspects were spotted by the witness, who was there to attend morning prayer, wearing masks and spreading an unspecified accelerant on the floor.
“Our first and foremost priority is to identify those individuals that are responsible for this. We believe it was deliberate, we believe it’s been targeted,” he said. “What we don’t know is why.”
Albanese described the crime in an radio interview with ABC Melbourne as an act of anti-Semitism.
“This is an act of hate and it’s something that should not occur in Australia or anywhere else for that matter,” he said.
“People must be allowed to conduct their faith as they see fit in a peaceful way.”
The local community revolves around that synagogue, he said.
“It’s a peaceful organisation and community, and this attack is just an outrage.”
In a statement, the prime minister called for those responsible to be caught and held responsible.
“This deliberate, unlawful attack goes against everything we are as Australians and everything we have worked so hard to build as a nation,” he said.
The fire comes as the number of anti-Semitic incidents in Australia has been soaring amid Israel’s war against Iran-backed Hamas in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands of people.
According to a report published Sunday by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, there were more than 2,000 anti-Jewish incidents tallied during the 12-month period ending Sept. 30, marking an increase of 316% compared to the same period a year prior.
Josh Burns, the member of Parliament for Macnamara, said the synagogue fire follows weeks where they have seen protests outside places of worship and vandalism of Jewish communities.
“The attack on their synagogue overnight is a disgrace,” he said in a statement. “It is anti-Semitism, it is racism and it needs to stop.”
