France probing leftist party for supporting Hamas, Palestine cause

A French leftist party, the New Anti-Capitalist Party, is being investigated for what the France government claimed was glorifying "terror" following Hamas's unprecedented offensive against Israel, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin has said.

Darmanin told a TV news show prosecutors referred the case to police after the far-left NPA affirmed "its support for the Palestinians and the means of struggle they have chosen to resist".

The party's statement concluded with the word "intifada" which means uprising.

The NPA said Israel's strategy, which it said was known as the "lawnmower", consisted "of physically and regularly eliminating new generations of activists and opponents of the occupation, in an endlessly repeating cycle".

"This time, the offensive is on the side of the resistance," it said.

Darmanin said he had made "several reports" to the courts about similar incidents.

Demonstrations banned

Later, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne stressed that France will not tolerate "any anti-Semitic act or comment" in the country.

Two pro-Palestinian demonstrations due to take place in Paris on Thursday have been banned, Paris police chief Laurent Nunez said.

The police ban was imposed "in view of the risk of disturbing public order".

Borne promised "the utmost firmness to all those who would use this conflict as a pretext for anti-Semitism".

Addressing the Jewish community, she said: "We are with you. To attack you is to attack the whole Republic".

Around 50 "anti-Semitic acts", some of them "particularly serious", have been recorded in France since Saturday's attack on Israel by Hamas, Darmanin said.

"People going in front of synagogues, lots of them, shouting threats. There have been 16 arrests in the last two days. Drones flying into schoolyards with cameras. But also slogans, tags, threatening letters," the interior minister said, adding that police services had noted "1,000 anti-Semitic reports in 48 hours".

Suspension of aid

France also said on Tuesday that it is opposed to suspending aid that "directly" benefits the Palestinians after the European Union said it was reviewing development help following Hamas's attack on Israel.

France is "not in favour of suspending aid which directly benefits the Palestinian populations", the foreign ministry said, adding that it had "made this known to the EU Commission".

Last year, France contributed $101M in aid to the Palestinians in Hamas-controlled Gaza, annexed east Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank run by the Palestinian Authority and refugee camps in neighbouring countries.

"This aid is focused on supporting the Palestinian populations, in water, health, food security and education," added the ministry.