After the French government forbade such demonstrations, police in the heart of Paris dispersed a pro-Palestinian rally with tear gas and water cannons.
The defiant should be arrested, according to interior minister Gérald Darmanin, since “they are susceptible to disrupt public order.”
Thousands of demonstrators rallied on Thursday in Paris, Lille, Bordeaux, and other cities despite the prohibition.
President Emmanuel Macron urged people not to sow discord among themselves.
In a video speech, he declared, “The shield of unity will guard us from hatred and excesses.”
The ban for pro-Palestinian protests comes as European governments worry that the Israel-Hamas conflict would fuel an increase in antisemitism.
Hours later, police dispersed a 3,000-strong march at Paris’ Place de la République, where protesters were chanting “Israel murderer” and “Palestine will win” and waving Palestinian flags, by making 10 arrests and using water cannons. At another gathering in Lille, 10 individuals were also detained.
Pro-Palestinian organizations said that the ban ran the risk of endangering freedom of expression and vowed to keep protesting in favor of the Palestinian people.
“We live in a country of civil law, a country where we have the right to take a stand and to demonstrate,” Charlotte Vautier, a rally participant, told Reuters.
“[It is unfair] to forbid for one side and to authorise for the other.”
Police in Berlin, the capital of Germany, also forbade anticipated pro-Palestinian protests, citing the possibility of antisemitic remarks and the glorification of violence.
On Thursday, according to the police, about 60 protesters left Potsdamer Platz as directed.
The casualties of Hamas’ attack on Israel from across the world
President Macron urged the French people to maintain their unity in his video speech, adding, “Let’s not add national divisions to international divisions.”
“A terrorist organization that wants the death of the people of Israel,” he called Hamas.
A total of 13 French nationals have been reported dead as a result of Saturday’s attack by Hamas on Israel.
In Gaza, Hamas is believed to be holding 17 French people as hostages. According to President Macron, France is doing everything it can to free them alongside Israel and its allies.
Among the missing are four kids.
He claimed that while Israel had the right to defend itself by putting an end to terrorists, it “must preserve civilian lives because it is the responsibility of democracies.”
“The only response to terrorism is one that is strong but fair,” he stated.
The largest Jewish population in Europe, France has over 500,000 Jews. With an estimated five million members, France has one of the largest Muslim populations in Europe.
Jewish schools and synagogues should be guarded by a noticeable police presence, Mr. Darmanin said regional representatives on Thursday.
He claimed on French radio that since Saturday, there had been 100 antisemitic incidents, the majority of which were graffiti with “swastikas, ‘death to Jews,’ and calls for intifadas against Israel.”
Attempts to bring blades into synagogues and schools were among the occurrences, he continued.
Leading MPs’ residences are already under police protection in France. Both Jewish MP Meyer Habib and National Assembly President Yal Braun-Pivet have received additional protection.
A member of Mr. Macron’s Renaissance party, Ms. Braun-Pivet, has reportedly received death threats.
She called for a moment of silence before the Assembly meeting on Tuesday and had the building lit up this week in the colors of the Israeli flag.
A member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Maryam Abu Daqqa, was also prohibited from attending a documentary screening in parliament the following month, according to Ms. Braun-Pivet’s announcement. The EU has designated the militant group as a terrorist organization.
Meyer Habib, a vociferous admirer of Israel, represents a group of French nationals living abroad, which includes Israel and the Palestinian Territories. He claimed that “we are witnessing the return of pogroms” following the Hamas attack.
In the wake of the Hamas attack, French politics has been torn apart.
While the majority of parties have denounced Saturday’s “terrorist attack” and supported Israel’s right to retaliate, Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s far-left La France Insoumise (France Unbowed) party’s initial statement has been more ambiguous.
As a result of the party’s use of the phrase “an armed offensive of Palestinian forces” in a statement about the Hamas attack, other parties, notably left-wing allies like the Socialist and Communist parties, criticized the party harshly.