French authorities have arrested six people accused of displaying a Palestinian flag from the Eiffel Tower without official approval, a police source confirmed on Saturday.
The incident happened on Friday when members of Extinction Rebellion France unfurled a large Palestinian flag from the monument’s first floor.
The activist group later admitted carrying out the action, saying it was intended as a “message of support” for Palestinians. The group also accused Israel of carrying out “massacres” in Gaza and committing “ecocide crimes,” including the destruction of olive trees on Palestinian land.
The demonstration was organised to coincide with Nakba Day, which marks the displacement of Palestinians during the creation of Israel in 1948.
The Eiffel Tower has previously been used as a symbol in relation to the conflict between Israel and Palestine. In September, ahead of France’s recognition of the Palestinian state, projections of both Israeli and Palestinian flags, along with peace symbols such as a dove and olive branch, were displayed on the monument.
In October 2023, following the deadly Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the war in Gaza, the Eiffel Tower was illuminated with the Israeli flag.
Official Israeli figures compiled by AFP show that Hamas’s October 2023 attack killed 1,221 people, most of them civilians.
According to the Gaza health ministry, more than 72,700 people, largely civilians, have been killed in Israeli retaliatory military operations in Gaza.
Despite a ceasefire reached in October, violence has continued across Gaza, with frequent Israeli strikes still being reported. Both Hamas and the Israeli military have repeatedly accused each other of violating the truce.