Gaza: Elysee Palace plans ‘time of remembrance’ for French victims

A national tribute, led by Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday, will honor the French victims of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel. According to the Elysee Palace, “42 compatriots died” in the attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement, which killed more than 1,160 people, most of them civilians. The three Frenchmen “are still missing and considered hostages.”

The coordinator of France Insoumise, Manuel Bompard, assessed this Monday on Sud Radio that it would be “legitimate” to also organize “a moment of tribute to the Francoist Palestinians who also died in the context of this conflict”, provoked by the Hamas attack when Israel launched an intensive bombardment of the Gaza Strip. “It would be great for the President of the Republic to organize both, another tribute or the same one, it doesn’t matter,” he added.

Terms will be established later

In response, the Elysee Palace considered that “it is clear that we owe the same emotion and the same dignity to the French victims of the Gaza bombings, and this tribute will be paid to them another time”, adding that the terms of this “time of remembrance” will be installed later. The decision was welcomed by rebellious France. “We welcome this decision and the request that I made to the President of the Republic at the beginning of November 2023. We will fully join in this tribute. We must pay tribute to all victims of war crimes in the Middle East and work for peace,” said the leader of the rebel MPs.

Meanwhile, the LFI deputies in any case want to go to the tribute to the Disabled on Wednesday, while the families refuse the visit of the radical left movement. For the Elysee Palace, this is a “republican ceremony” to which, according to the protocol in force since the 1989 decree, parliamentarians are invited. “Everyone must evaluate the appropriateness or not of their presence as families have spoken and expressed strong emotions,” the adviser said.