Hundreds of people have held protest rallies in Paris against a gala organized by far-right figures to raise funds for the Israeli military, which has been pounding the besieged Gaza Strip in a genocidal war since October last year.

Demonstrations, involving several hundred people, were held in the French capital of Paris on Wednesday against a contentious gala organized by far-right figures in support of Israel aimed at raising funds for the occupying regime’s military.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a vocal advocate of Israeli settlements, was also invited to the gala as a guest, a move that has drawn sharp criticism from local associations, unions and left-wing political parties, prompting two protests in Paris. 

The protests took place just before a high-profile soccer match at France’s national stadium against Israel’s soccer team, amid heightened tensions over the regime’s brutal wars on Gaza and Lebanon. French authorities have already said that over 4,000 police officers and 1,600 stadium personnel will be on duty for the event.

The stated goal of the provocative gala is to “mobilize French-speaking Zionist forces.”

Earlier this week, Smotrich, a hard-line settler leader, provocatively said Donald Trump’s election as the new American president paves the way for Israel to annex the occupied West Bank, a move that would end Palestinian hopes for statehood.

In a statement, the French Foreign Ministry slammed the Israeli minister’s comments as “contrary to international law” and counterproductive to efforts to reduce regional tensions.

It said “France reiterates its commitment” to the implementation of the so-called two-state solution, which it described as “the only prospect for a just and lasting settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

French protesters on Wednesday night marched through central Paris, condemning the event as a “gala of hatred and shame.”

“Imagine if an association were hosting a gala for Hezbollah or Hamas — there’s no way the police would allow that,” said Melkir Saib, a 30-year-old protester, stressing, “The situation is just unfair.”

The second line of protest involved Jewish leftist organizations, assembled near the Arc de Triomphe, chanting slogans opposing the gala and Smotrich.

Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7, 2023 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime’s decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.

The regime’s bloody onslaught on Gaza has so far killed more than 43,700 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured over 103,000 others. Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under rubble.