Two people have been sent to hospital after a synagogue in Melbourne was set on fire, with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemning it as a “deliberate” antisemitic attack.

Firefighters were called to Melbourne’s Adass Israel synagogue, located in the heart of the city’s Jewish community, at 4.18am local time on Friday.

At the time, “a few people” were inside for morning prayers, and community leaders said that some worshippers reported seeing firebombs being thrown.

Rabbi Gabi Kaltmann said “two thugs” smashed the building’s windows and chucked fuel onto the floor, before setting it alight.

The worshippers had to flee the building to get to safety, with two people sustaining minor injuries.

Synagogue board member Benjamin Klein said: “They heard banging on the door, and the window and some liquids came through which were lit. The whole thing took off pretty quickly and was on fire.

“For this to happen to a synagogue thousands of kilometres away from anywhere else in the world, a peaceful neighbourhood, a peaceful community – it is quite horrendous.”

Police in Victoria are now searching for two masked individuals who were seen spreading an accelerant at the synagogue before the blaze erupted.

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Albanese said the incident in Ripponlea, in the city's south-east, was “clearly aimed at creating fear in the community”.

“This violence and intimidation and destruction at a place of worship is an outrage,” he wrote. "I have zero tolerance for antisemitism.”

Detective Inspector Chris Murray added: "We believe it was deliberate. We believe it has been targeted. What we don't know is why and we'll get to the why."

He appealed for anyone who may have witnessed the incident, or who may have CCTV or dashcam footage, to contact the police.

After visiting the site, Victoria's premier Jacinta Allan said that the attack on a Jewish place of worship could be nothing “other than an act of antisemitism”.

When asked if the incident was domestic terroism, she said that the police are not ruling anything out.

She also pledged $100,000 for rebuilding work at the synagogue which police said had sustained significant damage.