Activists turn Paris fountain red to denounce Gaza ‘bloodbath'
While some activists poured dye into the Fontaine des Innocents, others held up placards saying 'Cease fire' and 'Gaza: stop the bloodbath'. (AFP pic)
PARIS : French activists dyed a Paris fountain red on Wednesday to symbolise what they called the 'bloodbath' of Palestinians in Gaza.
Activists from Oxfam and Amnesty International poured dye into the Fontaine des Innocents in the heart of the French capital, while others held placards saying 'Cease fire' and 'Gaza: stop the bloodbath'.
'This operation aims to denounce France's slow response to an absolute humanitarian emergency facing the people of Gaza today,' the activists, which included the French branch of Greenpeace, said in a joint statement.
'France cannot limit itself to mere verbal condemnations,' said former minister Cecile Duflot, executive director of Oxfam France.
Clemence Lagouardat, who helped coordinate Oxfam's humanitarian response in Gaza, denounced the Israeli blockade of the besieged territory.
'The people in Gaza need everything, it's a matter of survival,' she told AFP.
The Oct 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official data.
Militants also abducted 251 people, of whom 57 are still being held in Gaza, including 34 declared dead by the Israeli army.
The Israeli offensive launched in retaliation has killed at least 53,977 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to data from the Hamas-run health ministry, which is considered reliable by the UN.
Israel has now stepped up a renewed campaign to destroy Hamas, drawing international condemnation as aid trickles in following a blockade since early March that has sparked severe food and medical shortages.
'There is a genocide going on and political inaction is becoming a kind of complicity in this genocide,' said Jean-Francois Julliard, head of Greenpeace France.
'We call on (President) Emmanuel Macron to act with courage, clarity and determination to put an end to this bloodshed.'
The activists urged states 'with influence over Israel' to press for an immediate and lasting ceasefire, an arms embargo on Israel, the revision of a cooperation agreement between the EU and Israel and other measures.
Macron has accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of 'unacceptable' and 'shameful' behaviour in blocking aid to the Palestinians in Gaza.
In response, Netanyahu has accused Macron of siding with a 'murderous Islamist terrorist organisation'.
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