French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne addressing the National Assembly on the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. Photo: Reuters/Xose Bouzas

France’s prime minister told a National Assembly debate on the Middle East crisis on Tuesday that Paris was committed to ensuring that no financial aid reaches Hamas or any other Palestinian terrorist groups.

Elisabeth Borne pledged that her government would remain “extremely vigilant to ensure that no euro of French aid reaches any terrorist organization, neither in Gaza nor elsewhere.” The premier was responding to a demand expressed by Eric Ciotti, the leader of the center-right Les Républicains (LR) Party, to “cut off all development aid to those who participate in the financing of terrorism.”

Tuesday’s parliamentary session began with a minute’s silence to commemorate the 900-plus Israelis murdered during the Hamas invasion over the weekend. The assembly’s president, Yaël Braun-Pivet, spoke of France’s “unconditional solidarity” with Israel as the discussion got underway, while Borne separately emphasized that “France always stands alongside democracy. Nothing excuses terrorism and barbarism.”

The debate quickly assumed a controversial hue when Mathilde Panot — the leader of the parliamentary faction of the far left La France Insoumise (LFI — ‘France Rising’) — rose to speak, accusing both Hamas and Israel of committing “war crimes.”

“I hope from this assembly to express a thought full of humanity for the hostages, the civilians killed in Israel by the acts of terror perpetrated by Hamas as well as for the civilians who, in Gaza, are killed under the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] bombs,” Panot stated, as members of center and right-wing parties staged a walkout from the chamber in protest.

“These are war crimes,” she continued.

LFI’s stance on the conflict had already been roundly condemned on Monday, with one Socialist Party parliamentarian expressing “disgust” at the party’s reluctance to acknowledge the brutality of the Hamas operation.

During the same debate on Tuesday, Borne addressed concerns in the Jewish community that the current conflict will bolster antisemitism in France.

“We will not tolerate any antisemitic act or remarks in France,” Borne declared. Addressing the Jewish community, she added: “We are with you. To attack you is to attack the entire republic.”

Separately, French President Emmanuel Macron said he had reached the conclusion that the Hamas operation was enabled by “outside aid.” Iran’s alleged role in supporting the onslaught of its Hamas ally has been the focus of growing speculation over the past two days. However, Macron clarified that he had not so far seen evidence of Iran’s “direct involvement.”

The president also took the opportunity to denounce the “unbearable blackmail” behind Hamas’ threat to execute the up to 150 Israeli hostages who were snatched from their homes and forcibly taken to Gaza during the Islamist organization’s terror operation.

Despite the support for Israel expressed by many French legislators, the country’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday poured cold water on the suggestion of ending aid to the Palestinians — a move already adopted by Austria and presently being debated by the German government.

France is “not in favor of suspending aid which directly benefits the Palestinian populations,” a statement from the ministry said. It added that this position had been communicated to the European Commission, which is wrestling with the same dilemma.