France stops public transport and deploys 40,000 officers amid fears of third night of rioting
France is set to deploy 40,000 officers on Thursday evening amid fears of a third night of rioting in the capital triggered by the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old boy.
Bus and tram services are also set to shut down early so they are not “targets for thugs and vandals”, a Paris region official has said.
Meanwhile, a town in the capital’s southwest suburbs announced an overnight curfew to last through the weekend.
Clamart, a town with a population of 54,000, said the curfew would be in place between 9pm to 6am from Thursday night through to Monday.
Buildings and vehicles were set on fire as thousands took to the streets after a video emerged of a teenager, identified only by his first name Nahel, who was shot during a traffic stop on Tuesday in the Parisian suburb of Nanterre.
The killing of 17-year-old Nahel during a traffic check Tuesday, captured on video, shocked the country Pic: AP
The footage has shocked France and stirred up long-simmering tensions between police and young people in housing projects and other disadvantaged neighborhoods.
The police officer who fired the fatal shot will be investigated for voluntary homicide after an initial investigation concluded that “the conditions for the legal use of the weapon were not met”.
Sky News’s Europe correspondent Adam Parsons is on the ground in Nanterre and said: “The first thing that hits you is the lack of uniformed police.
“Whenever we cover a protest in France, you don’t have to go far before you see a police officer in uniform.
“But the message is very clear today. The police are considered the enemy.”
Nahel’s mother received condolences from those gathered to protest against his death.
“It certainly feels quite tense, and many youngsters are threatening to return to the streets tonight, and continue the violence that we have seen across France since the death of Nahel,” Sky’s correspondent said.
Why are people protesting in France – and why is there a history of rioting?
A masked protester throws a stone amid clashes with police
“The march finished at a large square near the Prefecture building in Nanterre, a location loaded with symbolism.
“For one, it’s a legislative hub – and was, inevitably, well protected by the police.
“For another, it was very near to the point where Nahel was shot by a policeman on Tuesday morning. His car careered to a collision on one corner of the square.
French riot police react amid clashes
“Up to this point, the march had been tense and noisy but there had been no violence.
“At the square, confronted by teams of riot police, that all changed. Tear gas and stun grenades came from one side; rocks, flares and fireworks from the other.
Read more: Kylian Mbappe speaks out after teen’s killing by police sparks Paris riots
“Perhaps it was inevitable. It certainly didn’t feel like a surprise that a march clouded with suspicion about the police should end with clouds of tear gas and confrontation. Now we wait to see what happens tonight.”
Ministers appealed for calm as they gathered for a crisis meeting this morning.
French riot police stand in position near a firefighter truck
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said: “The professionals of disorder must go home.
“The state’s response will be extremely firm,” he added.
The minister also confirmed that the number of officers on duty tonight would more than quadruple – from 9,000 to 40,000 – with the number of officers deployed in the Paris region alone more than doubled to 5,000.
Demonstrations spread to other towns on Wednesday night despite an increased police presence.
Burning vehicles are seen in a street amid clashes
Protesters shot fireworks and threw stones at police in Nanterre, who returned with repeated volleys of tear gas.
Schools, police stations, town halls and other public buildings were damaged from Toulouse in the south to Lille in the north as police and firefighters struggled to contain the riots and extinguish several fires.
But a spokesperson for the national police said most of the damage was in the Paris suburbs.
People attend a march in tribute to Nahel
Mr Darmanin said 170 officers had been injured in the unrest but their injuries were not life-threatening.
The local prosecutor in Nanterre, Pascal Prache, said officers tried to stop Nahel because he looked so young and was driving a Mercedes with Polish license plates in a bus lane.
He ran a red light to avoid being stopped but got stuck in a traffic jam.
Protestors with signs reading “Police kill. Justice for Nahel”
Both officers involved said they drew their guns to prevent him from fleeing.
According to Mr Prache, the officer who fired a single shot said he feared he and his colleague or someone else could be hit by the car.
A lawyer for Nahel’s family told the Associated Press they want the police officer prosecuted for murder instead of manslaughter.
Mounia, the mother of Nahel
French President Emmanuel Macron held an emergency meeting on Thursday about the violence.
“These acts are totally unjustifiable,” Mr Macron said at the beginning of the meeting, which aimed at securing hot spots and planning for the coming days “so full peace can return”.
French activists renewed calls to tackle what they see as systemic police abuse, particularly in neighborhoods where many residents struggle with poverty and racial or class discrimination.
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.”
Read more:
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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