Police tear gas pro-Palestinian marchers attempting to reach Israeli embassy in Paris

By Hafsa Alami

PARIS (AA) – Hundreds of people gathered Monday evening at Place Saint-Augustin in Paris's 8th arrondissement to condemn Israel's weekend airstrikes on a camp for displaced Palestinians in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

The protesters chanted slogans against French President Emmanuel Macron, called Israel an "assassin" and supported Palestinians with chants like "Gaza…Paris is with you."

They were surrounded by the French National Police's general reserve force, making it almost impossible for them to leave the square, but they continued to chant slogans condemning Israel and urging it to implement a "cease-fire now."

The police fired tear gas shells at demonstrators who attempted to reach the Israeli Embassy, which was less than a kilometer away.

The police forced the pro-Palestinian demonstrators to take the opposite route. When they attempted to return to the same route leading to the Israeli Embassy, police fired continuous tear gas shells until they dispersed.

Rima Hassan, the left-wing La France Insoumise (LFI) party's leader and a pro-Palestinian lawyer, had called for the anti-Israel protest.

"We participate in this march, which is scheduled to reach the Israeli Embassy to confirm and loudly say that we are all against what happened in Rafah," LFI deputy Carlos Martens Bilongo told Anadolu before the police teargassed the protesters.

"Burning (bombing) the tents of the displaced Palestinians is unacceptable, and France must move more politically to cease-fire in Gaza," he said.