"Stop the bloodbath": activists in Paris call for end to war in Gaza

Activists gathered in Paris on Wednesday, pouring red colouring into the basin of a fountain as they called for an end to the war in Gaza.

Protesters from Greenpeace, Oxfam, Amnesty International, Médecins du Monde and Ekō took part in the demonstration at the Fontaine des Innocents in the French capital

As they stood in the red running water the demonstrators held signs and banners calling on French President Emmanuel Macron to work to bring an end to the fighting in Gaza and for Israel and Hamas to agree to a ceasefire.

Israel renewed its offensive in March after ending a ceasefire with Hamas. It has vowed to seize control of Gaza and keep fighting until Hamas is destroyed or disarmed, and until it returns the remaining 58 hostages, a third of them believed to be alive, from the October 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war.

The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed over 54,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.

It says women and children make up most of the dead but does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally.