French municipalities turn off lights to honor Gaza victims

By Yasin Gungor

ISTANBUL (AA) — Several municipalities in France have turned off the lights at their city hall buildings on Wednesday night to honor civilians Israel killed in the Gaza Strip.

Marseille Mayor Benoit Payan launched the campaign in response to recent Israeli attacks on the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza strip.

"The horror of the murderous strikes on Rafah revolts us and touches us to the very depths of our humanity, " Payan said on X, announcing the symbolic gesture to commemorate the victims and urging other municipalities to join.

The mayors of Nantes, Lyon, Bordeaux also participated in the initiative, turning off the lights at their respective city halls to mourn those killed in Gaza by Israeli attacks, according to local media.

Israel has killed more than 36,200 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured over 81,700, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.