French Interior Minister Reports Zineb El Rhazoui for Alleged Terrorism Apology Over Israel Comments

Is Zineb El Rhazoui going to face French justice? On his X account, Bruno Retailleau announced on Tuesday that he had transmitted to the Paris public prosecutor, Laure Beccuau, the "report for the offense of apology of terrorism concerning the remarks of Zineb El Rhazoui made during an interview with the newspaper Nouvelle Aube published on October 4".

The former Charlie Hebdo journalist had, during an interview with Nouvelle Aube, a French offshoot of the conservative Turkish daily Yeni Safak, compared Israel to a "terrorist state", "a successful Daesh", refusing to condemn the bloody attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023. She will add: "There are no civilians in Israel since everyone does military service, since everyone is a settler". According to her, Hamas is a "resistance movement" in "a concentration camp called Gaza" and not a terrorist organization as described by about thirty countries, almost exclusively Western, including the United States, Canada, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia or Japan.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched the "Al-Aqsa Deluge" operation against Israel, which retaliates with air strikes. One year later, the toll of the war between Israel and Hamas is heavy: more than 42,344 dead, mostly women and children, more than two million displaced and dozens of hostages still being held.