Thousands of protesters rallied in Paris on Sunday, demanding an end to the Israeli military operation in Gaza, which organisers described as a “massacre”, following the bloody attack by Hamas militants.
Israel assassin, Macron complicit,” and “No peace without decolonization” were among the placards used at the protest sponsored by a left-wing collective in eastern Paris’ Place de la Republique plaza.
Police said they made 10 arrests at the first pro-Palestinian protest in the capital that had not been banned due to security concerns.
On Thursday, a judge overturned a police ban on a similar gathering in the capital.
“We managed to convince the judges that we are defending human rights,” lawyer Dominique Cochin told the crowd.
According to the police estimate, no fewer than 15,000 people attended the rally Sunday, while organisers counted 30,000.
A similar number of protesters marched in the southern city of Marseille.
According to Gaza health officials, more than 4,600 people were killed in Israel’s reaction to the Hamas attack on October 7, which killed approximately 1,400 people.
“You don’t have to be Palestinian to be affected by what is happening. For me, this type of gathering is a sign of desperation,” said Maya, a student who declined to give her last name.
“It’s the only thing you can do on an individual level. The government has a role to play diplomatically. It must have stronger positions and not act as a support for Israel,” she told
“Macron is giving Israel a licence to kill,” said Bertrand Heilbronn, the chairman of Association France Palestine Solidarity.
Heilbronn stated that the Hamas attack had given rise to “legitimate emotion” among Israelis but that it was “criminal to exploit it to justify a war of elimination that the state of Israel is waging against the Palestinian people”.
