A man wanted in connection with the deadly 1982 attack on a Jewish restaurant in Paris has been arrested by Palestinian authorities in the occupied West Bank, French officials confirmed.
Mahmoud Khader Abed Adra, who also used the alias Hicham Harb, is accused of directing the assault on the Jo Goldenberg restaurant on Rue des Rosiers, in which six people were killed and at least 20 injured.
The gun-and-grenade attack on 9 August 1982 shocked France and remains one of the country’s deadliest antisemitic attacks since the Second World War.
France’s National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT) said Interpol had informed them of Adra’s arrest, carried out under a 2015 international warrant. He faces charges of terrorist murder and attempted terrorist murder. The precise circumstances and timing of his detention have not been disclosed.
President Emmanuel Macron hailed the arrest, praising “excellent co-operation” with the Palestinian Authority. “We are working together to ensure his swift extradition,” he said in a post on X, vowing that France would not allow the attack to go unpunished.
Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot suggested the arrest was made possible by Macron’s decision to formally recognise a Palestinian state, which enabled Paris to issue an extradition request. France, along with several European and Western nations, is expected to announce recognition at the UN General Assembly next week, a move strongly opposed by Israel and Jewish community leaders in France.
Adra is suspected of being a member of the Abu Nidal Organisation, a militant Palestinian faction responsible for a wave of international attacks in the 1970s and 80s. French judges in July ordered Adra and five others to stand trial for the Rue des Rosiers attack, with proceedings scheduled for early next year.
While another suspect has already been extradited from Norway, three remain at large in Jordan and the West Bank. Victims’ representatives welcomed the latest arrest. Yohann Taïeb, a spokesman for some survivors, called it “a significant step” and urged Macron to expedite extradition.
“France does not forget,” Macron said. “Justice will prevail.”
