Suspect in 1982 Paris Jewish Restaurant Attack Extradited to France After 44 Years

Hicham Harb, a 72-year-old suspect in the 1982 Jo Goldenberg restaurant attack that killed six people and wounded over 20 in Paris's Jewish Marais quarter, was extradited to France by the Palestinian Authority after 44 years. The attack involved grenades and machine gun fire, and was blamed on Abu Nidal's Palestinian splinter group responsible for 900 deaths in the 1980s. France's Court of Cassation ordered a trial for six suspects in 2024, with three already in France and three living abroad. President Macron thanked the Palestinian Authority and framed the extradition as judicial cooperation resulting from France's September 2025 recognition of a Palestinian state.

Extradition and Detention of Hicham Harb After 44 Years

• ▪France's National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office requested Hicham Harb's extradition in September 2024.
• ▪Hicham Harb, a 72-year-old man, was extradited to France by the Palestinian National Authority on Thursday.

The 1982 Jo Goldenberg Restaurant Attack

• ▪No one has ever been convicted of carrying out the six killings at the Jo Goldenberg restaurant in 1982.
• ▪A grenade and gun attack on the Jo Goldenberg restaurant in Paris in 1982 killed six people.
• ▪The Jo Goldenberg restaurant attack in 1982 wounded more than 20 people.
• ▪Hicham Harb is suspected of directing the 1982 Jo Goldenberg restaurant attack and acting as one of the gunmen.

Ongoing Legal Proceedings and Suspects

• ▪Three of the six suspects in the 1982 Jo Goldenberg restaurant attack are in absentia and living in the West Bank, Jordan and Kuwait.
• ▪Abou Zayed is already in France as a suspect in the 1982 Jo Goldenberg restaurant attack.
• ▪The Paris courts rejected an appeal to have the 1982 Jo Goldenberg restaurant attack case heard by a jury rather than by judges in a special court.
• ▪Abou Zayed, a Norwegian citizen, is suspected of being one of the gunmen in the 1982 Jo Goldenberg restaurant attack.
• ▪Abou Zayed's lawyers have denied Abou Zayed had anything to do with the 1982 Jo Goldenberg restaurant shooting.
• ▪Hazza Taha is suspected of hiding weapons used in the 1982 Jo Goldenberg restaurant attack.
• ▪France's Court of Cassation ordered a trial for six suspects in the 1982 Jo Goldenberg restaurant attack in 2024.

Political and Diplomatic Context of the Extradition

• ▪French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot met families of the Rue des Rosiers victims in 2024.

Perspective of Abou Zayed's legal defense

• ▪Abou Zayed's lawyers have denied Abou Zayed had anything to do with the 1982 Jo Goldenberg restaurant shooting.

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