Macron dismisses anger over Gaza as France honours citizens killed by Hamas

France set to pay tribute to those lost in Israel's military operation in Gaza 'at another time'

French President Emmanuel Macron (C) stands in front of Republican Guards carrying victims' portraits during a ceremony to pay tribute to the 42 French citizens killed and to all the victims of the 07 October Hamas's attack on Israel, four months after the attacks, in the courtyard of the Hotel des Invalides in Paris, France, 07 February 2024. Thousands of Israelis and Palestinians have been killed since the militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip on 07 October 2023, and the Israeli strikes on the Palestinian enclave which followed it. EPA / CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON

President Macron paid tribute to the 42 French victims of the October 7 attacks at the ceremony in the courtyard of the Hotel des Invalides. AFP

President Macron and his wife Brigitte leaving after the ceremony. AP

Marine Le Pen, of the French far-right National Rally party, arrives for the ceremony. AP

President Macron (centre left) speaks with relatives of the victims. EPA

The president and his wife (third left) with victims' relatives. EPA

President Macron described the Hamas attack as 'barbarism, which is fed by anti-Semitism and propagates it'. EPA

President Macron shakes hands with French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal (left). AFP

President Macron vowed not to give in to 'rampant and uninhibited anti-Semitism'. Reuters

French first lady Brigitte Macron sits in the front row with relatives. AFP

President Macron at the ceremony, which took place four months after the attacks. AFP

Presidential guards hold portraits of the French victims of the October 7 attack. AP

President Macron at the first state event outside Israel to mark the attacks that killed about 1,200 people. AFP

Members of the Jewish community gather outside the Invalides monument. AP

President Emmanuel Macron honoured the 42 French victims of the October 7 attacks by Hamas in Israel, in a ceremony that largely blocked out the conflict in Gaza.

The moving commemoration was about displaying the importance of fighting anti-Semitism in France, where attacks against Jews have sharply risen since October 7.

Mr Macron described the attack by Hamas, which killed about 1,200 people, as "barbarism, which is fed by anti-Semitism and propagates it", vowing not to give in to "rampant and uninhibited anti-Semitism".

In an apparent reference to those killed in Gaza in Israel's retaliatory offensive, Mr Macron told the crowd: “Their destinies are not the only ones that the tearing of the Middle East continues to crush in this tornado of suffering that is war.

“And all lives are equal, priceless in the eyes of France.

"Never, within us, will we allow the spirit of revenge to prosper."

At the large Invalides courtyard in Paris, relatives of those killed stood behind Mr Macron, holding pictures and banners.

Images were also held up by members of the presidential guard as their families looked on, in the only such state event held outside Israel so far to mark the October 7 attacks.

A violinist played French composer Maurice Ravel's instrumental version of the Jewish kaddish prayer as the victims' names flashed up on a screen. The ceremony was broadcast live in Tel Aviv.

Mr Macron compared the October 7 events to terrorist attacks that have rocked France in the past years, including a July 14, 2016, attack in the southern city of Nice in which 86 people were killed.

"Our hearts sink to the echoes of the Bataclan, Nice or Strasbourg," he said.

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But controversy marred the ceremony after some family members of the dead said they did not want to see representatives of far-left political party La France Insoumise, the biggest left-wing party in Parliament.

The party has been widely criticised for failing to condemn Hamas immediately after the October 7 attacks.

It has demanded that Mr Macron also pay tribute to French citizens who have died in Israel's military operation in Gaza, which has killed more than 27,700 people, the Health Ministry there says.

LFI co-ordinator Manuel Bompard told local radio that Mr Macron would "grow in stature" if he paid his respects to victims of both Israel and Hamas "at the same time or separately – it doesn't matter."

There is no official information on the number of French nationals killed in Gaza, but authorities said in October that the two children of a woman wanted for terrorism had lost their lives in the enclave.

Key figures from the LFI, parliamentary chief Mathilde Panot and Mr Bompard, were present at the ceremony.

Members of the public gathered outside booing them as they appeared on the big screen.

An Elysee source told reporters before the event that it was important to also pay respects to victims of Israeli bombardments, but gave no indication as to when it would take place.

They pointed to Mr Macron repeatedly saying that "a life is worth a life".

"Homage will be paid to them at another time at a time when we will have to deal with that question," they said.

"Today, we are dealing with victims of terrorism and we must not mix two types of victims."