Palestinian flags flown on French town halls amid government warning

Mayors across France raised Palestinian flags on town halls on Monday in a show of solidarity timed with Paris's decision to formally recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly, defying a government order that warned such displays risked importing an international conflict onto French soil. The campaign, urged by Socialist leader Olivier Faure, was visible in suburbs of Paris and in cities such as Nantes, Malakoff and Saint-Denis, although the exact number of municipalities taking part remained contested. The Interior Ministry said 21 town halls had hoisted the flag by Monday morning, while other reports said the tally could be higher.

Municipal leaders framed the gesture as symbolic support for the Palestinian people amid the Gaza war, now approaching its second anniversary. Mathieu Hanotin, mayor of Saint-Denis, said he would fly the Palestinian flag "in a solidarity gesture with the Palestinian people." Jacqueline Belhomme, the communist mayor of Malakoff who kept a flag aloft despite a police request to remove it, compared the act to raising the Ukrainian flag during Russia's invasion. Johanna Rolland, the Socialist mayor of Nantes, said she would...