The Paris City Council adopted a resolution on Thursday granting honorary citizenship of the capital to Palestinian civilians and journalists. Supported by the left-wing majority, this distinction aims to express the City of Paris's solidarity with the inhabitants of Gaza and media professionals affected by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The mayor of Paris, Emmanuel Grégoire, presented this decision as a commitment to peace and the protection of civilian populations. Addressing Parisian elected officials, he reiterated that recognizing the suffering of the Palestinians did not negate that of the Israeli victims of the conflict. The Palestinian ambassador to France, Hala Abou-Hassira, was present at the meeting.
A decision that divides the Paris Council
The deliberation, however, sparked heated debate. Right-wing groups voted against the text, arguing that it focused exclusively on Palestinian victims without giving sufficient consideration to the Israeli victims of the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023.
Several elected officials also argued for a broader tribute to all victims of the conflict. Some members of the majority, however, supported the resolution while requesting that Hamas's responsibility be explicitly acknowledged in the discussions.
Honorary citizenship of the City of Paris has already been awarded to several individuals and communities in recent years. Hamas hostages notably received this distinction in 2024, while the city of Kyiv and the people of Nagorno-Karabakh were also honored by the French capital.
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