Advertisement

Spain jails man for inciting attack on Melilla Jewish community

AFP
AFP - [email protected]
Spain jails man for inciting attack on Melilla Jewish community
Spain jailed a man on Friday for inciting violence against Melilla’s Jewish community. (Photo by JEFF PACHOUD / AFP)

Spain's top criminal court on Friday jailed an "extremely radicalised" man for inciting violence against the Jewish community in Melilla, one of two Spanish enclaves in North Africa.

Advertisement

Police arrested the suspect on Wednesday, saying he had "actively participated" in an attempt by pro-Palestinian demonstrators to storm Melilla's main synagogue on October 18, some 10 days after the start of the
Israel-Hamas war.

They said he had undergone a "rapid process of radicalisation" and was "putting together a list of targets, mainly places run by members of the Jewish community in Melilla", some of which he had flagged on social media.

Investigators were tipped off in November by his social media activity where he posted content from the Islamic State group, and "unconditional support for the Hamas attacks" of October 7 on southern Israel that triggered
the ongoing war.

Since then, he had very quickly become radicalised, issuing "explicit calls to carry out violent jihad", including "acts of martyrdom", and had proposed an "armed uprising" against the Jewish community in general, and specifically in Melilla.

He was arrested in the early hours of Wednesday morning on suspicion of "glorifying terror, inciting terrorist attacks and training to that end".

Advertisement

Police also seized material from his computer and mobile phone as well as other paperwork.

The war in Gaza began after an unprecedented October 7 attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel, killing about 1,160 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel has responded with a relentless offensive that the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says has killed at least 30,800 people, mostly women and children.

 

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also