PARIS: French activists dyed a Paris fountain red Wednesday to symbolize what they called the “bloodbath” of Palestinians in Gaza. Activists from Oxfam and Amnesty International poured dye into the Fontaine des Innocents in the heart of the French capital, while others held placards saying “Cease fire” and “Gaza: stop the bloodbath”.

“This operation aims to denounce France’s slow response to an absolute humanitarian emergency facing the people of Gaza today,” the activists, which included the French branch of Greenpeace, said in a joint statement. “France cannot limit itself to mere verbal condemnations,” said former minister Cecile Duflot, executive director of Oxfam France.

Clemence Lagouardat, who helped coordinate Oxfam’s humanitarian response in Gaza, denounced the Zionist blockade of the besieged territory. “The people in Gaza need everything, it’s a matter of survival,” she told AFP. The Zionist offensive has killed at least 53,977 people in Gaza, mostly civilians.

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Israel has now stepped up a renewed campaign to destroy Hamas, drawing international condemnation as aid trickles in following a blockade since early March that has sparked severe food and medical shortages. “There is a genocide going on and political inaction is becoming a kind of complicity in this genocide,” said Jean-Francois Julliard, head of Greenpeace France. “We call on (President) Emmanuel Macron to act with courage, clarity and determination to put an end to this bloodshed.”

The activists urged states “with influence over (the Zionist entity)” to press for an immediate and lasting ceasefire, an arms embargo on the Zionist entity, the revision of a cooperation agreement between the EU and the Zionist entity and other measures. Macron has accused Zionist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “unacceptable” and “shameful” behavior in blocking aid to the Palestinians in Gaza. – AFP