Petrol bomb misses French synagogue

A barrage of petrol bombs was thrown into a building next to a Jewish synagogue early today in southern France.

The incident in Montpellier followed a string of attacks on Jewish targets in France that have been linked to heightened tensions in the Middle East.

Two offices of the building which houses the Herault region’s environmental offices were damaged in the 4 am (0200 gmt) attack, police said.

Jewish leaders joined Prefect Daniel Constantin and Montpellier Mayor Georges Freche at the site.

‘‘It is probably an act by young delinquents,’’ Constantin said. ‘‘Visibly, there was no preparation since they mistook the building.’’

Late yesterday, a bus owned by a Jewish school in the Paris suburb of Aubervilliers was set alight in an attack that also damaged two cars, local officials said.

Late on Tuesday, two assailants hurled petrol bombs at a synagogue in Marseille. Another Marseille synagogue was burned to the ground on Sunday.

Despite the attacks, Finance Minister Laurent Fabius, who is Jewish, today said ‘‘France is not anti-Semite.’’

‘‘There are anti-Semitic acts. They must be condemned with particular vigour,’’ he said. ‘‘When you burn a synagogue, it is not just the Jewish community that is touched. It is the entire national community, France, and it is absolutely unacceptable.’’