French police used teargas and water cannon to break up a banned rally in support of the Palestinian people in Paris on Thursday night, as President Emmanuel Macron urged the French to remain united amid fears a spillover of the Israel-Hamas conflict in France, home to Europe's largest Jewish and Muslim communities.
In a primetime TV address on Thursday, Macron called on the French people to remain united after Saturday's Hamas attack on Israel, which killed 13 French nationals.
"Let us not, through illusion or calculation, add national divisions to international divisions, and let us not give in to any form of hatred", said Macron, adding that the number of French people killed in the Hamas incursion in Israel had risen to 13.
Seventeen French nationals, including four children, have been reported missing since the attack.
Macron promised to do "everything" to secure the release of hostages in Hamas captivity. “I speak to the families tonight and I want to tell them that France is doing everything in its power, with the Israeli authorities and our partners, in order to bring them home safely because France never abandons its children,” he said.
Hamas was a terrorist organisation which wanted the death of Israel's people, said Macron, adding that the only way to resolving the current crisis in the Middle East was by providing security guarantees for Israel along with the creation of a state of Palestine.
Macron's speech came amid rising anti-Semitic attacks across France since Saturday's Hamas incursion in Israel.
Addressing concerns of a spillover of the conflict in the Middle East, Macron vowed to protect all citizens on French soil. “Our first duty is to guarantee the safety of all our citizens on our territory and to prevent any action, any word that could stigmatise them," he said. "I know many of you are afraid, and tonight I want to repeat this: the Republic will be there to protect you."
France has Europe's largest Muslim and Jewish populations and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has in the past contributed to tensions between the two.
Police use teargas on pro-Palestinian rally
Shortly before Macron's speech, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin announced a ban on pro-Palestinian demonstrations, saying they were "likely to generate disturbances of public order".
Despite the ban, several hundred pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered in central Paris on Thursday night in separate groups. Police used teargas and water cannon to try to keep them from merging.
Demonstrators chanted "Israel murderer" and "Macron accomplice."
Anti-Semitic acts have risen in France since Hamas attacked Israeli towns on Saturday, killing more than 1,300 people, said.
Israel has responded by launching the most powerful bombing campaign on Gaza, ruled by Hamas, in the 75-year history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, killing more than 1,200 and destroying whole neighbourhoods.
Read moreLive: Twelve French nationals killed in Hamas attack in Israel, 17 missing
Darmanin said France had seen a spike in online hatred but also more direct threats.
"Since Saturday and the terrorist massacres in Israel, there has been over a hundred antisemitic acts, mainly tags and swastikas," Darmanin told France Inter radio, "but also insults... and people arrested with a knife at the entrance of a school or synagogue ... and a drone flying over a Jewish place of worship."
Twenty-four people have been arrested. The government has assigned 10,000 police to protect some 500 sites.
Darmanin said intelligence services saw no specific terrorist threats against France's Jewish community, but that threats could come from individuals rather than organised groups.
Read moreWhy is France facing an upsurge in anti-Semitic attacks?
"The Palestinian cause is an absolutely respectable one, France has always considered that we need two states, an Israeli one and a Palestinian one ... but if it is a demonstration of support for Hamas ... it's no," he said.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)
