Palestine Action Committee files appeal against France's demonstration ban

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) - France-based Palestine Action Committee has filed an appeal against the country's ban on pro-Palestinian protests after escalation between Israel and Hamas.

"A general and absolute ban on pro-Palestinian demonstrations completely disregards the right to demonstrate," Vincent Brengarth, a lawyer at the Paris Bar, said Saturday on X.

"We filed an interim appeal before the Council of State for the Palestine Action Committee, against the decision of (Interior Minister) Gerald Darmanin," Brengarth added.

Darmanin, through a directive he sent to provincial authorities, ordered a ban on all pro-Palestinian rallies and arrest of their organizers on Thursday. He said such rallies could disturb public order.

Last weekend, in a dramatic escalation of Middle East tensions, Israeli forces launched a sustained military push against the Gaza Strip, a response to a military offensive by the Palestinian group Hamas in Israeli territories.

The conflict began when Hamas initiated Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against Israel, a multi-pronged surprise attack including a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel via land, sea, and air.

Hamas said the operation was in retaliation for the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem and Israeli settlers’ growing violence against Palestinians.

The Israeli military then launched Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas targets within the Gaza Strip.

Israel's response has extended into cutting water and electricity supplies to Gaza, further worsening living conditions in an area that has endured a crippling siege since 2007, as well as ordering more than 1 million Gazans in the northern strip to evacuate to the southern strip.