This Wednesday, February 7, President Emmanuel Macron led a ceremony in Paris in which he paid tribute to the 42 French citizens who were murdered in the bloody attack by the Hamas group, which occurred in southern Israel on October 7. In his speech, the head of state described the assault as “barbarism, fueled by anti-Semitism” and reiterated the commitment of his government to “the release” of three other missing Frenchmen who would be in the group of hostages in Loop.
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An attack in southern Israel that caused mourning beyond the borders. Many of the fatalities or kidnapped victims were foreigners or citizens with dual nationality.
Four months after the worst attack in the recent history of Israeli territory – in which around 1,200 people died and around 250 were kidnapped– Emmanuel Macron's Government paid tribute to the French and Franco-Israeli victims.
“It was 6 in the morning when Hamas launched its massive and atrocious surprise attack, the largest anti-Semitic massacre of our century. In the musical notes of a festive place, the drums of hell exploded, and the phones of our children, which until then moment they recorded the joy in their lives, they became black boxes of horror,” described Macron, in the middle of a solemn ceremony in Paris this Wednesday, February 7.
💬 “Il était 6h et le Hamas launches par surprise l'attaque massive et odieuse, le biggest antisémite massacre de notre siècle”
Emmanuel Macron pays homage to the victims of October 7 pic.twitter.com/QNUrgcSkZI
— BFMTV (@BFMTV) February 7, 2024
“Not all of them were born in France, they did not die in France, but they were part of France,” added the president in reference to the 42 people with origins from the European nation who died that fateful day, just like three other missing French nationals, who Paris believes could be in the group of hostages who remain in Gaza.
“Your empty chairs are here,” Macron added, highlighting his Administration's commitment to fighting for the release of its detained citizens.
All lives are of incalculable value in the eyes of France
The head of state's words took place in the middle of a ceremony to the sound of drums and violins. Dozens of guards marched holding photographs of the victims, while ministers and government officials watched in silence.
“Their fates were not the only ones that the division in the Middle East continues to crush in this tornado of suffering that is war. All lives are equal, they have incalculable value in the eyes of France, but the lives we honor today fell victims to the terrorism that we fight in all its forms and that has struck us in the heart,” declared Macron, while insisting that it was a “barbarism fueled by rampant anti-Semitism,” Macron stressed.
Anti-Semitic violence has increased in many countries, including France, following the attack and Israel's devastating invasion of Gaza in response.
Four months into the war, the Israeli Army's attacks on the Palestinian enclave leave at least 27,708 fatalities, most of them civilians, indicates the Gaza Ministry of Health.
Opposition calls for tributes for Frenchmen killed in Israeli bombings in Gaza
In the midst of a highly sensitive matter, the ceremony was also marked by controversy. Leaders of the left-wing France Insoumise party, and the largest in Parliament, indicated that Paris should also organize an event in memory of the citizens of the French country killed during the attacks by the Israeli Army in Gaza.
There is no official information on the number of French citizens who died during the ongoing war in Gaza, beyond the deaths of two children from the European country confirmed by French authorities on October 31.
Faced with criticism, an Elysée official responded that there would be another tribute, but that they preferred not to “mix two types of victims” and added that “it is evident that” the country owes the same respect to the French victims of the offensive in Gaza.
French President Emmanuel Macron affirms that the attacks carried out by Hamas against Israel on October 7 were “the largest anti-Semitic massacre of our century”, during a national tribute to the 42 French people killed in that incursion #AFP pic.twitter.com/xKemnC0oww
— Agence France-Presse (@AFPespanol) February 7, 2024
Besides, Families of the victims of French nationality expressed their rejection of political figures from the leftist movement led by former presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon attending the ceremony.accusing them of not reliably denouncing the Hamas attack or labeling the group as terrorist.
From the Presidency's office they indicated that, according to protocol, all deputies were invited to the ceremony and that “it is up to each one to evaluate the convenience or not of their presence, given that the families have demonstrated and expressed strong shock.” .
The Hamas attack in Israel also represents the assault with the highest number of deaths on the French side since the attack in Nice, on July 14, 2016, when 86 people lost their lives and more than 400 were injured.
With AFP and Reuters
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