Teenagers arrested over planned attacks on Eiffel Tower and Jewish community

French police have arrested two teenagers, aged 15 and 17, on suspicion of planning terror attacks against synagogues and the Eiffel Tower, Le Figaro reports.

According to the report, both suspects are natives of the Paris metropolitan area and grew up in “Arab-Muslim families.” The minors were reportedly sympathetic to the terrorist group Islamic State, frequently exchanged “extremely violent content,” and discussed plans to travel abroad to wage “jihad.” Their alleged plans included attacks on two synagogues in response to Israel’s military operations in Gaza, as well as an assault targeting the Eiffel Tower.

The two were charged with “criminal conspiracy with the aim of committing a terror act.”

The paper highlighted a concerning trend: while only two minors were detained on terrorism charges in 2022, the number rose to 15 in 2023, 18 in 2024, and already 13 since the beginning of 2025. Nearly one-third of those suspected or detained under terrorism laws in the EU were between the ages of 12 and 20. France’s National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office established a special unit for juvenile suspects in May of this year.

Separately, The Daily Telegraph reported that a series of attacks targeted the Jewish community last weekend in the seaside resort town of Bournemouth, in southern England.

On Aug. 23, an unknown assailant opened fire with an air pistol from a moving vehicle at a Jewish teenager on his way to synagogue. In addition, the homes of Bournemouth’s Jewish community leaders were defaced with swastikas.