Macron Condemns ‘Antisemitic’ Hamas Attack
Sudan Events – Sumaya Sayed
President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday described the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel as the “biggest antisemitic massacre of our century” as he hosted a ceremony paying tribute to the French victims.
Images of those killed or taken hostage by Hamas were held up by members of Macron’s guard as their families looked on, in the only such state event held outside Israel so far to mark the attack.
Macron described the attack by the Palestinian militant group as “barbarism… which is fed by antisemitism and propagates it,” vowing not to give in to “rampant and uninhibited antisemitism.”
The ceremony at the Invalides memorial complex in Paris paid tribute to the 42 French citizens killed in the attack on Israel by Hamas and the three others still missing, believed to be held hostage.
It was the biggest single loss of life of French nationals since the July 14, 2016 truck attack by an extremist in the southern city of Nice that left 86 people dead.
Macron said France would work “every day” for the release of the remaining French hostages. “Their empty chairs are there,” he said at the ceremony.
“Nothing can justify or excuse terrorism,” he said.