“Gaza, Gaza, Paris is with you.” Marking the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, tens of thousands of people, according to organisers, marched in Paris on Saturday to show support for Palestinians in Gaza, devastated by more than two years of war between Israel and Hamas that has killed more than 70,000 people, according to updated figures released Saturday by Gaza’s health ministry.
Protests were also held in London, Geneva, Rome and Lisbon.
As the UN marked the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that “the killing of so many civilians, the repeated displacement of an entire population and the obstruction of humanitarian aid should never be acceptable.”
“The October ceasefire agreement offers glimmers of hope. And the adoption of the resolution on Gaza by the Security Council is an important step in its consolidation,” he added in a statement.
A dense crowd – estimated at 50,000 by organisers and 8,400 by Paris police – marched from Place de la République to Place de la Nation, chanting “Gaza, Gaza, Paris is with you” and “From Paris to Gaza, resistance!”, and waving Palestinian flags and signs reading “Palestine: we will not be silenced” and “Gaza: silence, people are being killed. Stop the genocide.”
Several left-wing politicians, including France Unbowed leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, joined the march.
Seven weeks after a ceasefire took effect on October 10, “nothing has been resolved”, said Anne Tuaillon, head of the France Palestine Solidarity Association (AFPS), one of about 80 NGOs, unions and parties behind the call to protest.
“The ceasefire is a smokescreen. Israel violates it every day, blocks humanitarian aid and continues to destroy homes and infrastructure in Gaza. We are calling for a permanent ceasefire and an end to the genocide,” she told AFP.
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Under the US-brokered truce, Israeli forces have pulled back behind a so-called “yellow line” inside the Gaza Strip, still controlling more than half the territory. But the pause in fighting remains fragile, with both sides accusing each other of daily breaches.
'We need sanctions'
“We need sanctions. It’s the only way to make Israel respect international law,” Tuaillon said, condemning what she called an “unprecedented acceleration” of settlement expansion in the West Bank and record levels of settler violence.
Saleha, 72, wearing a beret and draped in a Palestinian flag, said she came to march against the “genocide” in Gaza.
“All of humanity is watching and can do nothing. It’s total impunity,” she said. “It’s shocking to see this and be unable to act. The only thing we can do is mobilise.”
Bertrand, a 42-year-old IT technician who declined to give his full name, said “the massacre continues”, citing Thursday during a joint Israeli police-army raid in Jenin. The UN has called for an investigation into what it described as an “apparent summary execution”.
Without economic sanctions, “pressure in the streets and through elected officials” must continue, he added.
Three people were arrested, Paris police said, without giving details.
