Palestinians Transfer Suspect in 1982 Paris Jewish Restaurant Attack

Palestinian authorities have transferred Hicham Harb to French custody in connection with the 1982 attack on a Jewish restaurant in Paris's Rue des Rosiers, one of the deadliest antisemitic assaults in postwar French history. The attack killed six people and wounded dozens when gunmen opened fire on diners at the Goldenberg restaurant. Harb is suspected both of directing the operation and of being among the gunmen who carried it out. The handover closes a decades-long extradition gap: perpetrators of the attack had evaded European justice for more than forty years, with several suspects long believed to have moved through Middle Eastern networks beyond French reach. The transfer signals an unusual degree of judicial cooperation between Palestinian authorities and France. French investigators will now seek to establish Harb's precise command role and whether co-conspirators remain at large. The case carries significant political weight in France, where accountability for antisemitic violence from the 1980s remains a live issue for the Jewish community and for prosecutors.