French police have arrested a man suspected of attempted arson against a synagogue in the southern France city of La Grande-Motte, acting interior minister Gérald Darmanin said on X.

The incident in the Mediterranean resort east of Montpellier is being investigated by France’s specialist antiterrorism prosecutor.

Two cars, one of which is believed to have contained a bottle of gas, parked in front of the Beth Yaacov synagogue, were set alight outside at about 8.30am on Saturday. Two doors at the building were also set alight, according to police.

A police officer was injured in the explosion.

Emmanuel Macron, the president, said the synagogue attack was a “terrorist act” and assured that “everything is being done to find [its] perpetrator”.

“The fight against antisemitism is a constant battle,” Macron said on X.

The acting prime minister, Gabriel Attal, and the acting interior minister were travelling to the scene on Saturday afternoon.

Darmanin said the fire was “an obviously criminal act”.

He wrote on X: “I want to assure our Jewish fellow citizens and the local community of my full support, and say that at the request of the president of the republic, Emmanuel Macron, all means are being mobilised to find the perpetrator.”

In a letter to the country’s prefects, who are local government officials, the minister called for “immediate reinforced protection” around Jewish places of worship and for “absolute vigilance” and protection for those entering and leaving synagogues and Jewish schools.

Yonathan Arfi, the president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (Crif), said: “Exploding a gas canister in a car outside the synagogue in La Grande-Motte at a time when worshippers were due to arrive is not just an attack on a place of worship, it is an attempt to kill Jews.”

The police officer was taken to Montpellier hospital with injuries linked to the blast. A police spokesperson said his life was not in danger.

Five people inside the synagogue at the time of the explosion and fires, including the rabbi, escaped injury.

There has been a surge in antisemitic acts in France since the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. Darmanin told journalists earlier this month the number of reported acts had almost tripled since the start of 2024, with 887 incidents compared with 304 during the same period last year. In 2023 there were 1,676 reported antisemitic incidents, four times more than the previous year, the minister said.