French authorities have taken into custody a 72-year-old man identified as a prime suspect in a 1982 grenade and firearm assault on a Jewish restaurant in Paris. The incident resulted in the deaths of six individuals.
Hicham Harb, whose actual name is Mahmoud Khader Abed Adra, was handed over by the Palestinian National Authority on Thursday. This action followed a request submitted last September by France’s National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT).
Harb is alleged to have orchestrated the attack on Rue des Rosiers. Evidence suggests he also participated as one of the gunmen, firing at patrons within the establishment. The assault involved an initial grenade thrown into the restaurant, followed by at least three individuals entering and discharging machine guns as people attempted to flee.
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed gratitude to the Palestinian Authority. He described the extradition as a “concrete demonstration” of judicial cooperation, stemming from France’s recognition of a Palestinian state in September 2025. Upon his arrival at the Villacoublay air force base near Paris, Harb was formally detained, according to PNAT.
No convictions have ever been secured for the six fatalities that occurred both inside and outside the Jo Goldenberg restaurant. The establishment is located in the historically Jewish Marais district of Paris. The attack also left over 20 other people injured.
In the preceding year, France’s highest judicial court, the Court of Cassation, mandated a trial for six suspects. Three of these individuals are being tried in absentia and reside in the West Bank, Jordan, and Kuwait.
The Rue des Rosiers incident has been attributed to a Palestinian splinter faction established by the militant Abu Nidal. Nidal himself was fatally shot in Iraq in 2002. His organization had previously separated from the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The group was linked to a series of severe attacks throughout the 1980s, resulting in approximately 900 casualties. These incidents encompassed assassinations, aircraft hijackings, and shootings at airports and on a Greek cruise ship.
Two suspects relevant to the Paris attack are already within France. These include Norwegian citizen Abou Zayed, who is believed to have been one of the gunmen. Another suspect, Hazza Taha, is accused of harboring the weapons utilized during the assault.
Lawyers representing Abou Zayed have asserted his lack of involvement in the shooting. Meanwhile, Bilal al-Adra, son of Hicham Harb, stated that the family considers his father’s extradition to be unlawful and lacking any assurance of a fair legal process. Paris courts, however, have dismissed an appeal seeking the case to be heard by a jury, opting instead for trial by judges in a specialized court.
French Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot, who met with the families of the Rue des Rosiers victims last year, conveyed his commitment to ensuring that all measures would be taken to bring the suspects to justice. He noted that, after forty-four years, justice may finally be served. Barrot emphasized that in the face of antisemitism and terrorism, France remembers and persists.