French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin instructed all prefectures to enhance the security of Muslim worship locales for the upcoming Ramadan period, which is set to begin on Sunday or Monday, as reported by local media.
“As the Ramadan period approaches, which will see many of our Muslim compatriots attend places of worship, and because freedom of worship is nothing without the protection of the State, I have instructed the prefects to strengthen, as for all religious festivals of all faiths, the security of mosques in our country,” Darmanin wrote on “X” (formerly Twitter) on Thursday.
In a note sent to the prefectures, the Minister of Beauvau requests “increased presence of security forces during the arrival and departure times of the faithful at gatherings and services,” with particular attention to “the most sensitive and emblematic locations and buildings in coordination with the Sentinel operation forces,” French news outlet Le Parisien reported.
Highlighting “…the high level of terrorist threat that continues to weigh on the country, as well as the persistence of tensions internationally, particularly the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which require maintaining extreme vigilance, especially towards demonstrations and religious sites,” Gérald Darmanin specifically called for increased security vigilance for Eid al-Fitr on April 9 or 10 and for the Laylat al Qadr (Night of Destiny), which occurs during one of the ten last nights of Ramadan.
After five months of war and just a few days before Ramadan, Egyptian, American, and Qatari mediators have been attempting since Tuesday in Cairo to reach a truce in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a particularly sensitive issue in France, which has the largest Jewish community in Europe (approximately 500,000 people) and some six million people of Muslim faith or tradition.
A wave of jihadist attacks has killed more than 260 people in France since 2015.