In 2020, three people were stabbed to death by a Muslim in Notre-Dame de Nice, a Roman Catholic basilica built in 1868.
The attacker, Tunisian Brahim Aouissaoui, was shot by police and arrested. In 2025, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Terror justice
Now Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamic militia that overthrew Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria in December 2024, is threatening to burn Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris unless France releases 25-year-old Aouissaoui, who on 29 October 2020 nearly beheaded a 60-year-old woman and stabbed to death two men aged 55 and 44 – and seriously injured six people in Notre-Dame de Nice.
Life imprisonment
Aouissaoui claims he has no memory of the attack, but the court found him guilty of terrorism and murder and he was sentenced to life in prison.
In a video, they set fire to a model of Notre-Dame and demand Aouissaoui’s release:
🚨 TERROR THREAT IN FRANCE: HTS MILITANTS TARGET NOTRE DAME 🚨
In a chilling ultimatum, HTS militants (Syrian opposition) have threatened to burn Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris unless a convicted stab attacker is released from French custody.
💥 A Warning of Sleeper Cells:
With… pic.twitter.com/EQZYqG965Q
– Jim Ferguson (@JimFergusonUK) January 28, 2025
Russian disinformation
HTS was previously linked to al-Qaeda, but broke away in 2016 and has moderated its image. The threat has been dismissed by the French authorities as false or manipulated, citing that HTS has distanced itself from international jihadism.
Laurence Bindner, a specialist in extremist propaganda, believes the threats to Notre-Dame could be Russian disinformation or a manifestation of an internal power struggle in HTS, rather than a real plan.
A European symbol
After repeated terrorist attacks, church fires, stabbings etc., more than one Frenchman finds good reason to take any threat seriously. The danger of potential “sleeper cells” is highlighted by a number of commentators.
The threat is directed at more than a historic building. Notre-Dame is one of our most important symbols of European Christian heritage and culture for the whole of Europe.
More than 800 French churches have been vandalised, burned and murdered since 2010. From 2015, we’ve seen a steady rise. Here are some “highlights” since 2016. The list can be made longer:
- 2016:On 26 July, 85-year-old Catholic priest Jacques Hamel was brutally murdered by two Muslims in a church in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray while celebrating mass. The perpetrators were later shot dead by police.
- 2016:In September, a group of Muslims were arrested after attempting to detonate a car with gas cylinders near Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.
- 2019: On 15 April, Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris was destroyed by fire. A number of cases of vandalism reported across the country.
- 2020:On 18 July, a church was destroyed by fire in Aubervilliers, north of Paris. Increased reports of vandalism, including broken statues in churches in Bordeaux.
- 2020:On 29 October, three people were stabbed to death in Notre-Dame de Nice.
- 2020:In November, Greek Orthodox priest Nikolaos Kakavelakis was shot and seriously wounded outside his church in Lyon.
- 2021:On 9 April, a church in Rennes was destroyed after suspected arson, no one arrested. A number of village churches set on fire, several cases of vandalism.
- 2022:On 16 June, a church in Saint-Omer was partially destroyed by fire, suspected of arson. Much vandalism reported, including broken stained glass windows in Paris.
- 2023:On 14 April, a church in Bordeaux was set on fire, one arrest. Vandalism and graffiti on churches in Lyon.
- 2024: On 11 July, Rouen Cathedral in Normandy was destroyed by fire. A 39-year-old man is arrested. Vandalism continues, statues smashed in Paris and Marseille.
- 2024:On 2 September, the historic church Église de l’Immaculée Conception was set on fire by a serial arsonist.
BREAKING: Yet another church in France is in flames.
This one is from 1854 and survived two world wars.
Why does this keep happening?
SHARE – The media won’t show you this 👇pic.twitter.com/ycvvmtQC52
– PeterSweden (@PeterSweden7) September 2, 2024