The war between Israel and Hamas, France in shock after the assassination of a French teacher in Arras by a radicalized young man, Donald Trump on trial… In thirteen drawings, “La Matinale” offers you an overview highlights of the past month.
Almost three years after the assassination of Samuel Paty, the teaching world was once again hit by an attack: Friday October 13, Mohammed Mogouchkov, 20, killed Dominique Bernard, a 57-year-old literature teacher, in front of the school campus Gambetta-Carnot in Arras. Originally from the Caucasus, this former student of the establishment, radicalized and on S file, also injured three other members of the educational staff. Shortly before taking action, he had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State organization. France has been placed in “attack emergency”, the highest level of the Vigipirate system.
Hamas launched Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood” against the Jewish state at dawn on Saturday October 7. Thousands of rockets were fired towards Israel and commandos from the Islamist movement carried out a coordinated attack against Israeli towns on the edge of Gaza, massacring hundreds of people, civilians and soldiers alike, and taking hostages, according to the Ministry of Defense. Israeli defense, more than 220 others, of several nationalities, including 9 French (four women have since been released). In retaliation, the government of Benjamin Netanyahu decreed a total siege of the Palestinian enclave, already under blockade since 2007, and is carrying out a massive bombing campaign. Since the start of the war, there have been 1,400 deaths in Israel – including 35 French – and more than 8,000 on the Palestinian side, according to the health ministry in Gaza under Hamas control.
The international aid that is starting to arrive in Gaza represents only “a drop in an ocean of needs” for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. On Tuesday, October 24, he called for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” and condemned “clear violations of humanitarian law” in the Palestinian territory, angering Israel.
According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, between October 21 and 29, 94 humanitarian aid trucks were able to arrive through the Rafah crossing point, compared to an average of 500 per day before October 7, but no fuel was delivered. authorized to be transported to Gaza until now. The enclave’s 2.4 million residents have lacked food, water and medicine since Israel declared a complete siege after Hamas attacked its territory.
After the October 7 killings, the Israeli government massed its troops around Gaza, planning a military invasion aimed at “destroying” Hamas. But he did not specify what would happen in Gaza if his war goal was achieved. For their part, Israel’s allies have increased their warnings to Benjamin Netanyahu about the risks of a land offensive, fearing a regional conflagration. Visiting Tel Aviv on October 18, Joe Biden stressed that these dramatic moments required “clarity on the objectives and an honest assessment of whether the chosen path is the right one.”
Since October 27, Israel has intensified its bombing of Gaza and is carrying out ground incursions. Hamas reported on Sunday “violent fighting” on the ground between its fighters and Israeli forces in the north of the Palestinian enclave.
The Socialist Party decided, on October 17, to no longer participate in the intergroup of the New Ecological and Social Popular Union (Nupes) in the National Assembly, judging that Jean-Luc Mélenchon was no longer “a factor of union” but “an obstacle to the left.” This decision follows the refusal of the leader of La France insoumise (LFI) and his inner circle to describe Hamas as “terrorist”, after the deadly attack against Israel on October 7.
After three weeks of internal psychodrama and the renunciation of three candidates, elected officials of the Republican Party unanimously nominated Mike Johnson, a conservative ideologue close to Donald Trump, on October 25. His appointment puts an end to an unprecedented crisis in the House of Representatives, which no longer had a speaker since the historic impeachment of Kevin McCarthy. The elected Republican from California was removed from the perch on October 3, after the vote on a motion of censure launched by elected officials from his own party.
While the whole world’s eyes are on Israel and Hamas, the fighting between Russians and Ukrainians continues. Vladimir Putin’s army has been carrying out a major assault since October 10 to encircle the town of Avdiïvka, in Donbass, nibbling a little ground at the cost of heavy losses. Other Ukrainian regions, such as Kherson, in the south, or Khmelnitskiï, in the west, suffered drone attacks and bombings on Wednesday, October 25. In the Kharkiv region (Northeast), Russian missile fire killed six people at a postal depot on October 21.
In the legislative elections of October 15, the three pro-European opposition parties likely to govern together gathered more than 53.5% of the votes cast, defeating the right-wing nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, which has been in power for eight years. These elections recorded the highest turnout in Poland’s post-communist era, at 74.38%, mainly thanks to an unprecedented mobilization of young people and women. The leader of the Polish pro-European opposition, Donald Tusk, has pledged to rebuild Warsaw’s ties with Brussels, battered by the outgoing government. During the campaign, he also promised to liberalize the right to abortion, the country having one of the strictest abortion laws in Europe.
The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded on Friday October 6 in Oslo to Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi, who has been detained for a year in Tehran. A distinction strongly criticized by Iran and welcomed by the international community. The 51-year-old activist and journalist is rewarded “for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all.” It is a “very strong choice for a freedom fighter,” congratulated French President Emmanuel Macron.
On the subject of irregular migration, nothing is going well between Tunis and the European Union. After signing a memorandum of understanding in July, the Tunisian head of state, Kaïs Saïed, finally rejected on October 2 the financial aid announced by Brussels as part of a plan intended to help Italy make faced with the influx of migrants from Tunisia.
In the midst of the 2024 presidential election campaign, Donald Trump is being prosecuted for having overvalued the assets of the Trump Organization and, thus, obtaining advantageous financial conditions. The judge has already ordered the withdrawal of his business licenses for New York State and the dissolution of some of his companies. The former American president once again denounced, on October 2, “the greatest witch hunt of all time.”
In October, for the second month in a row, the prices of consumer products on the shelves of retail brands fell by 0.6%, according to data published on Thursday, October 26, by panelist Circana. This minimal drop in food prices changes nothing in the daily lives of the French, who are forced to arbitrate their spending in the face of inflation.