Paris - French Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie on Tuesday described as "stupid and revolting" an apparently anti-Semitic attack in which a car was sent hurtling against the gates of a synagogue in the city of Toulouse and then set on fire.

Alliot-Marie told RMC radio that the perpetrators would be found quickly but she refused to say that the attack was related to the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

France has Europe's largest Muslim and Jewish communities, and strife between Palestinians and Israel has in the past provoked a wave of anti-Semitic attacks.

According to French media, the attack caused little damage, but police later found another vehicle in the vicinity that was loaded with Molotov cocktails.

A number of French human rights organizations have condemned the attack as an anti-Semitic aggression. (dpa)