France riots: Another night of looting and lawlessness – and nobody knows what will happen next
On Pont Neuf, right in the very heart of Paris, a blend of people. Tourists, smart-dressed locals, and lots of police officers in riot gear.
The violence and destruction that has engulfed some of the capital’s suburbs may have not taken over central Paris, but the tentacles of disorder have reached the middle of the city.
As we stood on the bridge, we could see blue lights behind and in front of us, sirens echoing off the buildings.
Near a smart shopping centre, the riot police have arrived in numbers to chase down those who seem intent on causing damage. We can see people being arrested, searched and then put into the back of a van.
As I watch, I catch the eye of one of them – a teenager, probably 16 or 17 years old, dressed in black clothes from head to toe.
He looks completely untroubled by falling into the hands of the police, and returns my gaze with deliberate indifference.
My guess is that this isn’t the first time he’s seen the back of a police van.
A bin burns, billowing smoke into the air; the riot police run down a road to the accompaniment of a busker, who starts playing Careless Whisper as he sees them.
A man, standing with his girlfriend, starts shouting questions at them as they run past. It is a curious blend of the normal and the abnormal.
Because what is happening in France is volatile and unpredictable. Marseille, the country’s second biggest city, succumbed to a night of such looting and lawlessness that, a little after midnight, the government announced it would be sending reinforcements down to the south.
A hurried decision; surely a sign that, for all their words about determination and calls for calm, the government is still playing catch-up.
The interior minister, Gerald Darmanin, said that, despite hundreds of arrests, the intensity of the violence had gone down. That may have been true in some places but not everywhere.
In Marseille, for instance, there was an explosion so large that it created a mushroom cloud.
But in Nanterre, where this wave of violence first started, the streets did seem calmer. The frenzied destruction of Thursday night and the early hours of Friday morning seemed to have dissipated slightly.
Albeit there were still roads blocked by flames, youths throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails and police armoured vehicles on the roads. Incredible to think that we could look at all that and think the situation might have improved.
Perhaps people are gradually growing weary of all this damage. Kylian Mbappe, France’s most famous footballer, who grew up in the Paris suburbs, released a thoughtful and eloquent statement asking for the violence to stop.
“It is your property you are destroying, your neighbourhoods, your cities…there are other peaceful and constructive ways to express yourself.”
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It is a noble sentiment, and there are many who will welcome it, not least those whose cars have been burnt, or whose businesses looted. But there is no guarantee it will be followed.
Today is Nahel’s funeral, which will throw another spotlight upon his death and upon the wholly fractious relationship between his community and the police.
A couple of days ago, a march in his memory ended with tear gas, baton charges and fighting across the very place where Nahel’s life came to an end.
At that march, there were posters and T-shirts demanding “Justice for Nahel”. But there is another slogan emblazoned on walls around Nanterre and beyond that reads “Vengeance for Nahel”. And those are two very different concepts.
So how will his funeral play out, and how will the inevitable tensions express themselves? As with so many things over the past few days, we simply don’t know.
We, like the residents, the police, the government and the people of France, will simply have to wait and see what happens.
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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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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