2023 Djerba synagogue shooting

On May 9, 2023, Wissam Khazri, a 30-year-old national guardsman, killed five people in a mass shooting at the El Ghriba Synagogue in Djerba, Tunisia. Khazri initially killed a colleague and seized his ammunition before targeting the synagogue, where a large gathering of Jewish pilgrims were celebrating Lag BaOmer. Two visitors and two Tunisian police officers were killed, while eight others sustained injuries before the perpetrator was killed by the police.

Tunisian Interior Minister Kamel Fekih reported that authorities had determined Khazri had targeted the synagogue in a premeditated attack, but they had not identified a motive.

Background

The El Ghriba Synagogue on the island of Djerba is Africa's oldest synagogue and the site of an annual pilgrimage that attracts thousands of Jewish visitors from Europe and Israel. The synagogue has been targeted by Islamist militants and has previously experienced attacks. In 1985, three people were killed and 11 wounded during the festival of Simchat Torah when a local policeman responsible for guarding the synagogue fired into a crowd of Jews. In 2002, al-Qaeda militants attacked the synagogue with a truck bomb, resulting in the deaths of 21 people. Since then, the number of pilgrims has not reached 10,000 attendants as it once did. Security measures have been put in place to prevent such attacks and the pilgrimage is seen as an annual test for Tunisian security forces.