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French Lawmaker Says Waving Palestinian Flag in Parliament Was Protest of ‘Massacre’ in Gaza
Sebastien Delogu, deputy for La France Insoumise (LFI) party, attends an anti-Israel protest in central Paris, France, May 29, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Abdul Saboor
A hard-left French lawmaker sanctioned for raising a Palestinian flag in parliament on Tuesday said he would “rather be on the right side of history than stick to the rules of the National Assembly.”
The lower house of parliament voted to suspend Sebastien Delogu, a deputy for the hard-left La France Insoumise (LFI) party, for 15 days and to half his pay as a lawmaker over two months, the harshest sanction possible.
“It’s the first time that a foreign flag has been raised in the assembly, but it’s appropriate given what’s at stake, when you have people, who are like us, on the other side of the Mediterranean being massacred,” Delogu told Reuters at an anti-Israel protest in Paris on Wednesday evening.
LFI has positioned itself as a defender of the Palestinians, making the issue central to its campaign for the June 9 European Parliament election.
Unlike other parties, LFI has not described the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel as a “terrorist” act. Some critics of LFI have accused it of antisemitism, which the party says is not true.
Delogu raised the flag during a session of questions to the government, while another LFI deputy questioned a minister about the situation in Gaza.
There have been protests and spontaneous gatherings happening in Paris everyday this week since 45 people were killed on Sunday in a massive blaze in a tent camp in the Gaza city of Rafah following an Israeli airstrike. Israel was targeting Hamas commanders and indicated the fire was triggered by nearby munitions stored by the Palestinian terrorist group near civilians.
Of the strikes, French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X/Twitter on Monday that he was “outraged” and “these operations must stop”; however, Delogu said that the government is not doing enough.
“I point the finger at France … because they continue to sell arms [to Israel], which means they are complicit in this massacre,” he said.
Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu has previously said that France will not stop sending weapon components to Israel. He has said the components are used for Israel‘s Iron Dome missile defense and others are sold to Israel for re-export. Lecornu has said Paris does not provide lethal weapons to Israel.
The Elysee presidency and the defense ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
National Assembly rules forbid lawmakers from brandishing flags during session. In 2019, a lawmaker from Macron’s party held up a white flag with “France kills in Yemen” written in red. He was given a warning.
Another LFI MP, David Guiraud, called a Jewish colleague a “pig” and a “pork” during a heated exchange shortly after the flag-waving incident. That MP, Meyer Habib, has said he would file a complaint for antisemitism.
The post French Lawmaker Says Waving Palestinian Flag in Parliament Was Protest of ‘Massacre’ in Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.