By Hafsa Alami
PARIS (AA) - Hundreds of people gathered in front of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Paris to denounce Israel’s genocide in the Gaza Strip and to demand action from the government.
The protest followed a call from several organizations including Urgence Palestine, the France-Palestine Solidarity Association and the La France Insoumise (France Unbowed) party to gather there to express solidarity with Palestinians in the city of Rafah.
Around 1.5 million Palestinians are living as refugees in Rafah, which straddles the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. It also serves as an entry point for humanitarian aid.
The city was bombed earlier this month by the Israeli army, which targeted 14 buildings and killed around a hundred civilians and is threatening to launch a ground operation.
The protestors denounced France and other European governments’ complicity in the Israeli onslaught and called for a boycott and sanctions against Israel and an immediate cease-fire to save lives.
With no escape for Gazans, those taking part in the protest criticized the world’s silence in light of the ongoing Israeli aggression, which constitutes the “latest stage of Israel’s genocidal project,” they said.
They also condemned the arrest of Olivia Zemor, a French activist and president of the Euro-Palestine Association who is known for her advocacy of the liberation of the Palestinian people.
France’s position on the war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas is seen by many as “ambiguous” and “not enough.”
French President Emmanuel Macron told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday that the Israeli army’s operation in Gaza “must stop” because “the human toll and the humanitarian situation are intolerable,” the Elysee Palace said in a statement.
Macron also insisted on “the extreme urgency of concluding, with no further delay, an agreement on a cease-fire which would finally guarantee the protection of all civilians and the massive entry of emergency aid,” the statement added.