France riots: Police killing of 17-year-old boy in Nanterre is catalyst for wanton destruction
It was past 2am when the fires and disorder of Nanterre came to our doorstep and lit up the sky, bringing devastation in its wake. This is a corner of France where anger and anarchy have taken a grip.
The middle of the night, but none of our team were asleep. It’s very hard to drift off when the tranquillity of night is so often punctuated by the sounds of fireworks and sirens, but then came different noises – the crackle of fire and the pops of small explosions.
The hotel where our team is staying overlooks the depot of an energy company. Parked there, protected by a tall wire fence, were a dozen vans next to a warehouse building. And now, through the night, an orange glow was getting ever bigger.
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Violent protests spread over teen killing
My colleague, the Europe news editor Sophie Garratt, was the first to hear the noise, looked out of her window and saw three people running away from the depot. Muffled words exchanged as they fled.
They had done what so many others did in Nanterre last night – lit a fire. We’d seen plenty of them that evening – bins dragged and set ablaze; roads blocked. Symbols of defiance.
But this was something very different. As we watched, the fire rapidly expanded. It consumed vehicle after vehicle. Pop went the tyres; bang went the fuel. Windows blown out. Red, orange, blue and green flames getting ever bigger.
Pic: Marc Hofer
We opened the window to see better what was happening, but the smoke was an acrid blend of molten fuel, rubber, metal, plastic and tarmacadam. Smell that for a few moments, and you want to close the window.
By now, the fire had turned into an inferno. In the corridor, some guests began to panic. “We’re getting out of here,” one man shouts through the open door. “This whole place is going to go up.”
Pic: Marc Hofer
A few minutes later, we see his car driving off, along with others.
As it turns out, he’s wrong. The fire service arrive. At first, it’s just one man, who surveys the scene and then returns with a hose and a second firefighter. They try to contain it, but it’s an uphill battle in the face of regular, unpredictable explosions as fuel tanks rupture.
But then more people arrive with more equipment. A cherry picker looms over us. And gradually, by about 4am, the battle is being won and the flames are dying down.
Read more: Mbappe speaks out after teen’s killing by police sparks Paris riots
Pic: Marc Hofer
What’s left behind is the smouldering wreckage of, I would guess, the best part of a million pound’s worth of vans and equipment. Who knows what damage has been done that we couldn’t see?
In some ways, they’re lucky. The warehouse itself is scorched, but still intact. The neighbouring buildings, including our hotel, didn’t catch light. But when the owner and employees come to look at the ashes and wreckage, I don’t imagine they’ll feel lucky.
This was wanton destruction, but it’s tied up with so many strands that you can’t simply write it off as vandalism.
Pic: Marc Hofer
In Nanterre, like other Paris suburbs and other French towns, there are plenty of people who feel marginalised, forgotten or discriminated against. Crime is high; literacy is low.
And when you get an event like the killing of 17-year-old Nahel, that becomes a catalyst.
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Clashes in France over teen’s death
Combine that with hot, dry evenings and you have the perfect ingredients for disaffected young people to take to the streets.
Nahel’s killing was, itself, rather like an act of arson. It started the fire of fury that has now engulfed this area for two nights in a row, along with other towns across France.
The question is, how long it will go on for? But, as we watched those flames devour so many things in such a short space of time, one thing was very obvious – conflagrations like this are much easier to start than they are to extinguish.
US president-elect Donald Trump has suggested Israel and Hamas could agree a Gaza ceasefire by the end of the week.
Talks between Israeli and Hamas representatives resumed in the Qatari capital Doha yesterday, after US President Joe Biden indicated a deal to stop the fighting was “on the brink” on Monday.
A draft agreement has been sent to both sides. It includes provisions for the release of hostages and a phased Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza.
Qatar says Israel and Hamas are at their “closest point” yet to a ceasefire deal.
Two Hamas officials said the group has accepted the draft agreement, with Israel still considering the deal.
An Israeli official said a deal is close but “we are not there” yet.
More than 46,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its ground offensive in the aftermath of the 7 October attacks, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Read more:
What’s in the proposed deal?
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on beachfront cafe in Deir al Balah. Pic: Reuters
Biden hails possibility of agreement
President Biden said it would include a hostage release deal and a “surge” of aid to Palestinians, in his final foreign policy speech as president.
“So many innocent people have been killed, so many communities have been destroyed. Palestinian people deserve peace,” he said.
“The deal would free the hostages, halt the fighting, provide security to Israel, and allow us to significantly surge humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians who suffered terribly in this war that Hamas started.”
Qatari mediators have sent Israel and Hamas a draft proposal for an agreement to halt the fighting.
Analysis:
Deal might be close, but there are many unanswered questions
Pic: Reuters
Trump: ‘We’re very close’
President-elect Donald Trump has also discussed a possible peace deal during a phone interview with the Newsmax channel.
“We’re very close to getting it done and they have to get it done,” he said.
“If they don’t get it done, there’s going to be a lot of trouble out there, a lot of trouble, like they have never seen before.
“And they will get it done. And I understand there’s been a handshake and they’re getting it finished and maybe by the end of the week. But it has to take place, it has to take place.”
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Pope Francis honoured by Joe Biden
Donald Trump’s inauguration 2.0
Pic: AP
Israeli official: Former Hamas leader held up deal
Speaking on Tuesday as negotiations resumed in Qatar, an anonymous Israeli official said that an agreement was “close, but we are not there”.
They accused Hamas of previously “dictating, not negotiating” but said this has changed in the last few weeks.
“Yahya Sinwar was the main obstacle for a deal,” they added.
Sinwar, believed to be the mastermind of the 7 October attacks, led Hamas following the assassination of his predecessor but was himself killed in October last year.
Under Sinwar, the Israeli official claimed, Hamas was “not in a rush” to bring a hostage deal but this has changed since his death and since the IDF “started to dismantle the Shia axis”.
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Biden: ‘Never, never, never, ever give up’
Iran ‘weaker than it’s been in decades’
Yesterday, President Biden also hailed Washington’s support for Israel during two Iranian attacks in 2024.
“All told, Iran is weaker than it’s been in decades,” the president said.
Mr Biden claimed America’s adversaries were weaker than when he took office four years ago and that the US was “winning the worldwide competition”.
“Compared to four years ago, America is stronger, our alliances are stronger, our adversaries and competitors are
weaker,” he said.
“We have not gone to war to make these things happen.”
The US president is expected to give a farewell address on Wednesday.
A draft ceasefire deal on the table between Israel and Hamas would see 33 hostages set free and a phased withdrawal of IDF forces from parts of Gaza.
President Joe Biden said an agreement to stop the fighting was “on the brink” and high level negotiations between the two sides resumed in Qatar on Tuesday.
The deal would see a number of things happen in a first stage, with negotiations for the second stage beginning in the third week of the ceasefire.
It would also allow a surge in humanitarian aid into Gaza, which has been devastated by more than a year of war.
Details of what the draft proposal entails have been emerging on Tuesday, reported by Israeli and Palestinian officials.
Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages hold photos of their loved ones during a protest on 8 January. Pic: AP
Hostages to be returned
In the first stage of the potential ceasefire, 33 hostages would be set free.
These include women (including female soldiers), children, men over the age of 50, wounded and sick.
Israel believes most of these hostages are alive but there has not been any official confirmation from Hamas.
In return for the release of the hostages, Israel would free more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
People serving long sentences for deadly attacks would be included in this but Hamas fighters who took part in the 7 October attack would not be released.
An arrangement to prevent Palestinian “terrorists” from going back to the West Bank would be included in the deal, an anonymous Israeli official said.
Read more:
A timeline of events since the 7 October attacks
The hostages who still haven’t returned home
Smoke billows as buildings lie in ruin in Beit Hanoun in Gaza. Pic: Reuters
Phased Israeli withdrawal from Gaza
The agreement also includes a phased withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, with IDF troops remaining in the border perimeter to defend Israeli border towns and villages.
Security arrangements would be implemented at the Philadelphi corridor – a narrow strip of land that runs along the border between Egypt and Gaza – with Israel withdrawing from parts of it after the first few days of the deal.
The Rafah Crossing between Egypt and Gaza would start to work gradually to allow the crossing of people who are sick and other humanitarian cases out of Gaza for treatment.
Unarmed North Gaza residents would be allowed to return to their homes, with a mechanism introduced to ensure no weapons are moved there.
“We will not leave the Gaza Strip until all our hostages are back home,” the Israeli official said.
What will happen to Gaza in the future?
There is less detail about the future of Gaza – from how it will be governed, to any guarantees that this agreement will bring a permanent end to the war.
“The only thing that can answer for now is that we are ready for a ceasefire,” the Israeli official said.
“This is a long ceasefire and the deal that is being discussed right now is for a long one. There is a big price for releasing the hostages and we are ready to pay this price.”
The international community has said Gaza must be run by Palestinians, but there has not been a consensus about how this should be done – and the draft ceasefire agreement does not seem to address this either.
In the past, Israel has said it will not end the war leaving Hamas in power. It also previously rejected the possibility of the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited governing powers in the West Bank, from taking over the administration of Gaza.
Since the beginning of its military campaign in Gaza, Israel has also said it would retain security control over the territory after the fighting ends.
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