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"Protesters gathered at the Place de la Republique in Paris on Saturday to demand that the French government take action against Israel over the approval of a law mandating the execution of Palestinians convicted of 'deadly terror attacks' in military courts. Footage shows demonstrators chanting while waving Palestinian flags, as others held up signs and balloons reading, 'liberty for Palestinians' and 'stop Israel racism.' "France should, in my opinion, fully grasp what is happening in Israel, fully grasp that this country can no longer claim to be a democracy by applying this type of law," said one protester. "We are told it is the greatest democracy in the Middle East, but in fact it is quite the opposite, since people are going to be hanged without even being tried," another added. Demonstrators argue that criticism alone has no impact on Israel, insisting that only sanctions could pressure the state into changing its actions. One protester claimed that despite what some have labelled as 'illegal actions,' France and the EU have avoided sanctions because of financial interests. "They have contracts with Israel and do not want to lose them. It would represent a considerable loss of revenue for Europe, and especially for France, which has many arms contracts," she said On Monday, Israel passed a law that authorises the death penalty for those convicted of 'terror offences' within 90 days. This was pushed by the National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, as a key victory for his Otzma Yehudit party within Netanyahu's coalition. Under this new law, prisoners will now face a mandatory death sentence by a simple majority vote and with limited appeal opportunities. The law has been condemned by the UN, the EU, and human rights organisations worldwide. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the move was meant to "strengthen deterrence against terrorism and to ensure those who carry out deadly attacks face the full force of the law." The United States expressed support for Israel's 'sovereign right to determine its own laws'. In the last month alone, local monitoring groups say Israeli forces carried out over 7,300 incidents against Palestinians, including killings, raids, arrests, property destruction and restrictions on freedom of movement, which Israel denies."
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