Tunisia’s judicial authorities have increased the sentences and punishments for several defendants involved in the 2023 Ghriba synagogue attack on the island of Djerba.
Five defendants had been convicted and sentenced in February 2026 for the deadly May 2023 attack, led by a Tunisian National Guard officer, in which five people were killed.
Al Ain news in the United Arab Emirates and the Tunisie Telegraph reported on Wednesday that a criminal chamber of the court that specializes in terrorism cases at the Tunis Court of Appeal had increased the sentences of four defendants.
According to Al Ain, the court’s decision included increasing the prison sentence from eight to 10 years for both the fiancée of the perpetrator and the person who arranged a house for and communicated with him, while subjecting each “to administrative supervision for five years.”
It added that the court also lengthened the sentence of a third defendant from two years in prison to six. How many of these defendants had already been serving time since 2023 remains unclear.
"In the same context, the court overturned the initial ruling issued against the fourth defendant, which ruled that the case should not be heard, and decided to convict her and sentence her to six years in prison,” the Al Ain report added.
As for the Tunisie Telegraph, it noted that the Tunisian Court of Appeal had reopened the files of those involved in the attack. Al Ain provided similar information, noting that the court had revisited the case of the perpetrator’s fiancée as well as of a person who had arranged accommodation for the perpetrator and communicated with him.
Based on this report, the Tunisian National Guard member had killed his colleague “before heading toward the vicinity of the Ghriba temple and opening fire, in an incident that resulted in deaths and injuries.”
The incident “brought back to the forefront the issue of securing sensitive sites during religious and tourist visits,” Tunisie Telegraph noted.
Further, several security forces were wounded in the attack. “The attack also killed two visitors and injured others,” the news source said.
Reversal of previous decision to not hear defendant's case
The “new appellate rulings are of particular importance” because they reversed a previous decision not to hear part of one defendant’s case, the report pointed out.
“These rulings remain part of the judicial process related to determining responsibilities in the case, while the perpetrator of the attack who opened fire should not be confused with the rest of the defendants to whom the judicial authorities are responsible for the actions attributed to them,” Tunisie Telegraph reported.
It noted that the attack on the historic synagogue took place during an annual Jewish pilgrimage season. The perpetrator, it said, shot his colleague and then stole his ammunition. He then attacked the synagogue, killing three other security officers and two Jewish visitors.
The Jews who were killed included a local Tunisian and a relative visiting from France, the report added. The same site was attacked in 2002 by terrorists using a truck bombing. The attack killed 21 people and was believed to be carried out by al-Qaeda.
In May, the Associated Press noted that “the annual Jewish pilgrimage to the 26-century-old El-Ghriba Synagogue in Tunisia drew a modest but notable return of international visitors this year, worshipping together under tight security after a deadly 2023 attack disrupted the festival.”