A national tribute, chaired on Wednesday by Emmanuel Macron, will be paid for the French victims of the attack carried out on October 7 by Hamas in Israel.
According to the Élysée, “42 fellow citizens died” in the attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement, which resulted in the death of more than 1,160 people, the majority civilians.
Three French people are “still missing and presumed hostages”.
The coordinator of France Insoumise Manuel Bompard estimated this Monday on Sud Radio that it would be “legitimate” to also organize “a moment of tribute for Franco Palestinians who also died in the context of this conflict” triggered by the Hamas attack, when Israel began an intense bombing operation against Gaza.
“The President of the Republic would be great at organizing both, another tribute or the same one, it doesn’t matter,” he added.
Terms set later
In response, the Élysée considered “that it is obvious that we owe the same emotion and the same dignity to the French victims of the bombings in Gaza, and this tribute will be paid to them at another time” adding that the terms of this “memorial time” would be set later.
A decision welcomed by rebellious France.
“It is a decision that we welcome and a request that I addressed to the President of the Republic at the beginning of November 2023. We will fully associate ourselves with this tribute.
We must pay tribute to all the victims of war crimes in the Middle East and work for peace,” declared the leader of the rebellious deputies.
In the meantime, the LFI deputies wish to go in any case to Wednesday's tribute to the Invalides while families refuse the arrival of the radical left movement.
For the Élysée, it is a “republican ceremony” to which, according to the protocol in force since a decree of 1989, parliamentarians are invited.
“It’s up to everyone to assess the appropriateness or not of their presence since the families spoke out and expressed strong emotion,” said an advisor.