法国铁路罢工 法国国家铁路公司（SNCF）列车查票员周五开始罢工，将持续整个周末假期，高铁TGV受影响严重。法国政府呼吁工会和管理层表现出“责任感”，“不能再走极端了” ...  2024年2月15日，法国南特火车站，在法国国有铁路公司（SNCF）检票人员举行全国性罢工之前，人们看到空荡荡的站台和行驶的国铁SNCF地区列车

[Gabriel Attal](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/09/world/europe/gabriel-attal-france-prime-minister.html?searchResultPosition=1), 34, is a new kind of French prime minister, more inclined to Diet Coke than a good Burgundy, at home with social media and revelations about his personal life, a natural communicator who reels off one liners like “France rhymes with power” to assert his “authority,” a favorite word. Since taking office in early January, the boyish-looking Mr. Attal has waded into the countryside, far from his familiar haunts in the chic quarters of Paris, muddied his dress shoes, propped his notes on a choreographed bale of hay, and [calmed protesting farmers](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/01/world/europe/france-farmers-protest-macron.html) through adroit negotiation leavened by multiple concessions. He has told rail workers threatening a strike that “working is a duty,” not an everyday French admonition. He has shown off his new dog on Instagram and explained that he called the high-energy Chow Chow “Volta” after the inventor of the electric battery. He has told the National Assembly that he is the living proof of a changing France as “a prime minister who assumes his homosexuality.” France does budge, but whether it is ready for the control-the-narrative politics of emotion and distraction that Mr. Attal embodies is an open question. Time is short. The prime minister’s mission, as conceived by an embattled President Emmanuel Macron, is clear: reverse the ascendancy of the far right of Marine Le Pen ahead of European Parliament elections in June and a French presidential election just over three years from now. Mr. Attal speaking to farmers in Montastruc-de-Salies, in southwestern France, last month as he tried to head off nationwide protests.Credit...Miguel Medina/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Mr. Macron is term limited and must leave office in 2027; the specter that haunts him is Ms. Le Pen as his successor. In Mr. Attal, he hopes to cultivate one of his own. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and [log into](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F02%2F23%2Fworld%2Feurope%2Fgabriel-attal-france-prime-minister.html&asset=opttrunc) your Times account, or [subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F02%2F23%2Fworld%2Feurope%2Fgabriel-attal-france-prime-minister.html) for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? [Log in](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F02%2F23%2Fworld%2Feurope%2Fgabriel-attal-france-prime-minister.html&asset=opttrunc). Want all of The Times? [Subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F02%2F23%2Fworld%2Feurope%2Fgabriel-attal-france-prime-minister.html).

The signs that a protest is happening in Paris are nearly always the same: the quiet of blocked-off streets; the neat rows of police vans containing the gendarmerie stretching down the boulevard; the sound of drumbeats and whistles and the neon red flares that spit smoke into the sky. For six months last year, those signs were constant and ubiquitous, as furious, sometimes violent marches and general [strikes protesting President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reforms](https://www.nytimes.com/article/france-pension-strikes-macron-explainer.html) brought Paris to a standstill. Students and activists, public-transit operators, custodial staff, medics, mechanics, teachers, oil-rig workers, writers and celebrities all gathered to rail against Macron’s plan to raise the national retirement age by two years, to 64. [ Open this article in the New York Times Audio app on iOS. ](https://www.nytimes.com/audio/app/2024/03/06/magazine/french-left-politics-melenchon.html?referringSource=audioAppPromo) As transit walkouts snarled traffic and sanitation strikes caused trash to pile up in the streets, the protests were ridiculed abroad. Why must the French, among the best-protected workers in the Western world, make such a racket over two years of work? But for the demonstrators, this missed the point: It is _because_ French workers put up a fight that they are protected. “We actually have laws on our side,” Samira Alaoui, a union representative at Teleperformance, a digital business services company, told me. “We are a model for the world. If we don’t do anything, who will?” In 2023, France seemed less the exception than the rule. There was a surge in labor activity around the world last year — strikes and victories — as much as or more than any year in decades. This was true in the United States, where [the Writers Guild of America,](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/25/business/media/hollywood-writers-strike-deal.html) [the United Auto Workers](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/30/business/uaw-ford-general-motors-stellantis-contracts.html) and the [UPS Teamsters](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/22/business/economy/ups-contract-vote-teamsters.html) all won significant concessions from executives. In [Britain, nurses went on strike](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/15/world/europe/uk-nhs-nurses-strike.html) to protest staffing shortages and patient backlogs at the National Health Service. Still, it was perhaps in France that labor’s rise was most visible — most combustive and most telling. France has always been a vanguard of leftist politics. Today it is one of the few Western democracies where a far left has managed to survive and even thrive, as it works to invent a new leftist politics that can succeed in a moment of right-wing ascendancy. How it fares says much about where the left may be headed and the headwinds it faces, not just in France but throughout the West. While once-robust labor unions have seen their numbers decline more drastically in France than in other European countries — around 8 percent of French workers belong to labor unions, compared with 35 percent in Italy or 18 percent in Germany — French unions remain strong. In part this is because recent labor activism has been buoyed by a newly resurgent leftist movement, La France Insoumise (L.F.I.), or “France Unbowed.” At the final pension-reform march in Paris last summer — a defanged one, to be sure, as the measure had already been made law — the area cordoned off for protesters gathering to march down the Boulevard des Invalides was draped with banners for L.F.I. “A different reform is possible, 60!” one proclaimed. Another demanded the founding of a new republic. One protester carried a giant marionette of Macron peeking out of a bright green garbage bin, an allusion to the scandal that followed the arrest of a woman at her home for an online post in which she called Macron “trash.” (The charges were later dropped.) Image A demonstrator carrying a marionette of Macron in a garbage bin during a protest over pension reform in Paris in June, 2023.Credit...Michel Euler/Associated Press Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and [log into](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F03%2F06%2Fmagazine%2Ffrench-left-politics-melenchon.html&asset=opttrunc) your Times account, or [subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F03%2F06%2Fmagazine%2Ffrench-left-politics-melenchon.html) for all of The Times. 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France will offer government employees who work during this summer’s Olympic and Paralympic Games bonuses and other incentives in a bid to avoid strikes that could disrupt the global sporting events. Stanislas Guerini, the French minister for transformation and public services, made the announcement Saturday in an [interview](https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8u45o4) with France Info. He said eligible government employees will get bonuses of up to 1,500 euros ($1,640) for their work during the Summer Olympics — which will be held across France and its overseas territories from July 26 to Aug. 11 — and Paralympic Games, which take place from Aug. 28 to Sept. 8. The Olympic and Paralympic Games are set to become the “biggest event ever organized in France,” [according](https://www.paris2024.org/fr/dates-jeux-olympiques-paris-2024/#:~:text=Les%20Jeux%20Olympiques%20de%20Paris,%C3%A9v%C3%A9nement%20jamais%20organis%C3%A9%20en%20France.) to their official website, and the government has leaned heavily on them as part of its messaging: In his New Year’s address, French President Emmanuel Macron cast the hosting of the Games as part of a year of “pride” and “hope” for France. Guerini said Saturday that “this moment must be a moment of success for the nation.” Labor strikes, a fact of life in France, are a big concern: To pull off the Games, French authorities plan to recruit [tens of thousands](https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1143455/numbers-paris-2024-nine-budget-spectator) of police officers, military personnel, private security guards and other workers. Any major strike during the Games could be highly disruptive. The announcement came days after a [major French union](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/sports/article/2024/03/07/paris-2024-union-threatens-to-strike-filing-notices-covering-duration-of-olympics_6594056_9.html) threatened strikes during the Olympics if the government did not make arrangements for workers on questions of overtime, housing and child care, for example. Several [other unions](https://www.tf1info.fr/jeux-olympiques/jeux-olympiques-2024-cgt-cfdt-preavis-greve-syndicat-par-syndicat-quel-est-l-etat-de-la-menace-durant-la-competition-2288728.html) also submitted strike notices covering the period of the Games, though it is not yet clear whether they intend to walk off the job. Tourism officials estimate that more than [15 million visitors](https://www.leparisien.fr/jo-paris-2024/tourisme-a-paris-durant-les-jo-plus-de-15-millions-de-visiteurs-attendus-dont-90-de-francais-09-01-2024-HBDENLGHOBHVVHOYU45KIKTADA.php) will descend upon Paris and its surroundings for the Games. The French capital has ambitious plans to host sporting events around landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and the Seine River and to pull off history’s [most environmentally friendly](https://www.france24.com/en/france/20230725-greenest-in-history-how-paris-aims-to-halve-the-olympics-carbon-footprint) Olympic and Paralympic Games. But some [polls](https://www.lemonde.fr/sport/article/2023/11/13/paris-2024-la-perception-des-jeux-olympiques-atteint-la-cote-d-alerte-chez-les-franciliens-selon-un-sondage_6199868_3242.html) [show](https://www.lesechos.fr/politique-societe/societe/sondage-exclusif-jo-de-paris-2024-les-francais-nont-pas-encore-la-flamme-1967968) French people are more [skeptical](https://www.institutmontaigne.org/expressions/sondage-les-francais-et-les-jeux-olympiques), as concerns mount about disruptions to public transportation, increased traffic, clutter from public works, and prices. On Thursday, Sophie Binet, head of the CGT union of salaried workers, [said](https://www.francetvinfo.fr/les-jeux-olympiques/paris-2024-la-cgt-menace-de-deposer-des-preavis-de-greve-et-reclame-des-mesures-immediates-du-gouvernement_6409459.html) her union would strike if the government did not prepare the Games “from a social point of view,” including through benefits for workers. As recently as January, government employees organized a [protest in front of Paris Mayor](https://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2024/01/18/paris-2024-des-policiers-manifestent-contre-les-conditions-de-leur-mobilisation-pour-les-jeux-olympiques_6211541_3224.html) Anne Hidalgo’s office to demand bonuses and other forms of compensation for working the Games. Some held signs and chanted, “The Olympics will be without us,” according to [French newspaper Le Monde](https://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2024/01/18/paris-2024-des-policiers-manifestent-contre-les-conditions-de-leur-mobilisation-pour-les-jeux-olympiques_6211541_3224.html). That same month, about [200 police officers drove through Paris](https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8rc75k) atop buses to demand guarantees from the government on bonuses and time-off compensation during the Games, Le Parisien reported. Relations between the government and various unions have been particularly tense in recent years. In 2024 alone, farmers have disrupted public events, putting up roadblocks and [driving into Paris with tractors](https://www.france24.com/en/france/20240223-angry-french-farmers-drive-their-tractors-into-paris-in-fresh-protests), to demand more protections for the agriculture sector. Last month, the [Eiffel Tower shut down for days](https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/eiffel-tower-operator-says-strike-by-staff-has-ended-site-reopen-sunday-2024-02-24/#:~:text=Workers%20at%20the%20Eiffel%20Tower,tower%20in%20the%20winners%27%20medals.) when workers went on strike to demand higher pay and changes in the management of the monument. Guerini said Saturday that plans are in place to address government workers’ “legitimate” concerns. He said the government will offer workers involved in the Games 500 ($550), 1,000 ($1,094) or 1,500 euros, depending on their level of involvement. This could apply to security officers, but also to consular workers responsible for processing visa applications for people coming to the Games, he said. French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin previously announced that [police officers involved in the Games](https://twitter.com/GDarmanin/status/1752254848781693218/photo/2) would be eligible for a bonus of up to 1,900 euros ($2,080). Guerini said the government will also offer support to the families of government employees, who may have to work long hours during the Olympics. Measures include payment of up to 350 euros ($384) per child for extra costs, as well as opening spots in nurseries and holiday camps. Because the Games fall in July and August — typically, a sacred period for French families to go on vacation — government employees who have to work during that time will also be able to take their vacation at another date, Guerini said. The government is set to discuss the measures with unions representing government workers on Tuesday. “The whole country hopes there will be no strikes for the Olympic and Paralympic Games,” Guerini said.

Iran’s supreme leader on Tuesday pledged to avenge the deaths of three commanders and four officers in Iran’s armed forces, one day after they were killed in a precision Israeli airstrike on the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus. The leaders, Iranian officials said, were some of the highest ranking leaders in the Quds Force, overseeing Iran’s covert intelligence and military operations in Syria and Lebanon. The [strike](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/01/world/middleeast/iran-commanders-killed-syria-israel.html) was the deadliest against Iranian officials in recent memory and has shaken the country’s armed forces establishment. The strike, both the latest in a yearslong [shadow war](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/02/world/middleeast/iran-israel-attacks-shadow-war.html) between Iran and Israel and a seeming escalation in that conflict, has again brought attention to Israel and Iran’s conflicting ambitions in the region and the network of proxies Iran employs to fight its battles. “We will make them regret this crime and similar crimes, with the help of God,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, said of the Israelis. Here’s what we know about the commanders who were killed. Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi of Iran, who was killed on Monday in the Israeli airstrike in the Syrian capital.Credit...Fars News Agency, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Among the officers killed on Monday was Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a veteran of the Revolutionary Guards Corps and its external branch the Quds Forces. General Zahedi, three Iranian officials and a Guard member said, was the corps’ top commander in the region, in charge of Iran’s network of proxy militias, particularly those in Lebanon and Syria. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and [log into](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F04%2F02%2Fworld%2Fmiddleeast%2Firan-commanders-syria-strike-israel.html&asset=opttrunc) your Times account, or [subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F04%2F02%2Fworld%2Fmiddleeast%2Firan-commanders-syria-strike-israel.html) for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? [Log in](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F04%2F02%2Fworld%2Fmiddleeast%2Firan-commanders-syria-strike-israel.html&asset=opttrunc). Want all of The Times? [Subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F04%2F02%2Fworld%2Fmiddleeast%2Firan-commanders-syria-strike-israel.html).

* **Russia’s defence minister warned his French counterpart against deploying troops to Ukraine in a rare phone call on Wednesday**, reports Associated Press (AP). **Sergei Shoigu** told French defence minister **Sébastien Lecornu** that if Paris follows up on its statements about the possibility of sending a French military contingent to Ukraine, “it will create problems for France itself”, according to a statement from the Russian defence ministry. It didn’t elaborate. French president [Emmanuel Macron](https://www.theguardian.com/world/emmanuel-macron) said in February that the possibility of western troops being sent to Ukraine could not be ruled out. French officials have since clarified that the suggestion concerned using troops for training and other operations away from frontlines. The call marked the first such contact between Russian and French defence ministers since October 2022, according to AP. * **France has denied Russia’s claim of a discussion on potential Ukraine talks, according to Agence France-Presse**. Russia said that **Shoigu** and **Lecornu** discussed the potential for talks on the Ukraine conflict during the phone call on Wednesday, but it’s a claim that Paris immediately denied. “France neither accepted nor proposed anything of the sort” on the conflict, the source told AFP. * **Russian drones hit residences early on Thursday in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city,** **killing five, including three rescue workers in a repeat strike**, the mayor and the regional governor said. Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said four people died at the scene of one attack, at least three of them rescue workers killed after they had arrived at the scene and a new strike occurred. Five people were injured. A fifth person was killed in a strike on private homes in another city district, Terekhov said. Kharkiv’s regional governor, Oleh Synehubov, said a total of four strikes had hit the city and the top floors of one apartment building had been damaged. Reuters was unable to independently verify the accounts. * **Finland’s president on Wednesday signed a 10-year security deal with Ukraine in Kyiv** where president **Volodymyr Zelenskiy** said he believed Russia planned to mobilise 300,000 new troops for its war by June. But Kremlin spokesperson **Dmitry Peskov**, quoted by Russian news agencies, said the Ukrainian president’s assertion about a new Russian mobilisation was untrue, says Reuters. The pact signed by president **Alexander Stubb** and **Zelenskiy** made Finland the eighth Nato member this year to commit to long-term security cooperation and defence backing for Kyiv. * **Nato foreign ministers met in Brussels on Wednesday, where [Jens Stoltenberg](https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/apr/03/russia-ukraine-war-live-cameron-calls-for-more-defence-spending-as-nato-ministers-meet?page=with:block-660d73098f089d7aa145b6aa)**[, the alliance’s secretary general, announced](https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/apr/03/russia-ukraine-war-live-cameron-calls-for-more-defence-spending-as-nato-ministers-meet?page=with:block-660d73098f089d7aa145b6aa) that “today, allies have agreed to move forward with planning for a greater Nato role in coordinating security assistance and training”, when it comes to the future of aid to Ukraine. * **Asked about a possible €100bn Nato fund for Ukraine, the Polish foreign minister, Radek Sikorski**, told reporters: “We support the secretary-general’s efforts.” The fund is a bid to shield support for Ukraine in the face of a potential return of Donald Trump to the US presidency. * **The British foreign secretary, David Cameron, urged allies to boost defence spending.** “The most important thing we can do to make sure this alliance continues to grow and continues to strengthen is to ensure that we all spend over 2% of our GDP on defence,” he said. * **The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has reiterated his call for more air defences.** “This terror is wreaking havoc on cities and villages throughout Ukraine, and Russia is particularly relentless in bombarding frontline and border areas,” he wrote. Ukraine’s partners are not providing Ukraine with enough air defence, the country’s foreign minister, **Dmytro Kuleba**, told Reuters in an interview. * **Ukraine’s lowering of its military conscription age from 27 to 25 has come into force**. The change is part of an effort to [replenish its depleted ranks](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/03/ukraine-military-draft-age-law) after more than two years of war after Russia’s full-scale invasion. The new mobilisation law came into force Wednesday, a day after Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy signed it, reports AP. * **Russian security official Nikolai Patrushev said today, without providing any evidence,** that “Ukrainian special services” were behind last month’s deadly concert shooting near Moscow. * **Two Russian TU-95MS strategic bomber planes performed a scheduled five-hour flight** over neutral waters of the Barents and Norwegian seas.

Joe Biden has said he expects an Iranian attack on Israel “sooner rather than later” and issued a last-ditch message to Tehran: “Don’t.” “We are devoted to the defence of [Israel](https://www.theguardian.com/world/israel). We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” Biden told reporters on Friday. Earlier the White House national security spokesperson John Kirby warned that the threat of a significant Iranian attack on Israel remains “viable” despite Washington-led efforts, including calls to Tehran from the UK and Germany, to deter a serious escalation in the conflict in the Middle East. The White House comments came as several countries, including India, [France](https://www.theguardian.com/world/france), Poland and Russia, warned their citizens against travel to the region and Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, said his country was “prepared to defend \[itself\] on the ground and in the air, in close cooperation with our partners”. Later CBS, quoting two unnamed US officials, reported that a substantial missile and drone attack could be launched as early as Friday evening, as a number of countries urgently warned their nationals of the risk of escalating violence in the region, and Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, convened a security assessment. Appearing to underline that report, Javad Karimi-Ghodousi, a member of the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy commission, said: “After punishing the Zionist regime in the coming hours, this villain will understand that henceforth, wherever in the world it attempts to assassinate figures of the resistance front, it will again be punished with Iranian missiles.” Iran has [threatened reprisals](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/01/israeli-airstrike-on-iranian-consulate-in-damascus-kills-irgc-commander) against Israel for a strike on the Iranian consulate in Syria on 1 April, in which seven members of the Revolutionary Guards including two generals were killed, sparking fears that an already volatile climate in the Middle East could quickly spiral further. Tehran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, said on Thursday that Iran felt it had no choice but to respond to the deadly attack on its diplomatic mission after the UN security council failed to take action. Speaking to reporters, Kirby said the prospect of an Iranian attack on Israel was “still a viable threat” despite [concerted efforts by Israel and the US in recent days to deter it](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/11/us-confirms-israel-support-in-face-of-iran-reprisal). [ US seeking to deter Iran from strike on Israel, officials say ](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/11/us-confirms-israel-support-in-face-of-iran-reprisal) “We are in constant communication with our Israeli counterparts about making sure that they can defend themselves against those kinds of attacks,” Kirby said. He confirmed that the head of US Central Command, Gen Erik Kurilla, was in Israel talking with defence officials about how Israel could be best prepared. Israel has said it is strengthening air defences and has paused leave for combat units. On Friday, France ordered the evacuation of diplomats’ families and warned nationals in several other countries, including Israel and Lebanon, and alerts were issued by Canada and Australia. The US also restricted travel within Israel for US diplomats and their families. In its strong warning on Friday, the French foreign ministry advised citizens against travelling to Iran, Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian territories and said French civil servants were banned from conducting any missions there. The advisories followed a number of media reports that Israel was preparing for the prospect of an attack from Iran, possibly as soon as this weekend. A US official told the Wall Street Journal that American intelligence reports indicated an Iranian retaliatory strike “possibly on Israeli soil” as opposed to against Israeli interests elsewhere, adding that the strike could come within 24 to 48 hours. The same report, however, also reported an individual briefed by the Iranian leadership as saying no final decision had been taken by Tehran. While analysts had initially speculated that Iran may not rush into a response, [concern has grown](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/11/us-confirms-israel-support-in-face-of-iran-reprisal) in the last two days over the potential for direct conflict between Iran and Israel after years of proxy conflict between the two enemies. More recently experts have suggested that Iran now feels it is required to act militarily to restore its balance of deterrence with Israel. On Wednesday, [Joe Biden said](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/10/biden-israel-iran-strike) Iran was threatening a “significant attack” against Israel and that Washington would do all it could to protect Israel’s security. The US president’s comments in turn followed a televised speech by Iran’s leader saying the attack in Damascus was equivalent to an attack on Iran itself. “When they attacked our consulate area, it was like they attacked our territory,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said. “The evil regime must be punished, and it will be punished.” The Israeli military said it was fully prepared for any strike. Israel was “on alert and highly prepared for various scenarios, and we are constantly assessing the situation,” the Israel Defense Forces spokesperson, R Adm Daniel Hagari, said at a press conference. “We are ready for attack and defence using a variety of capabilities that the IDF has, and also ready with our strategic partners.” According to reports in the Israeli media, the IDF believes that Iran or one of its proxies are most likely to attempt to strike a military target rather than civilian centres, although some sites such as the Kirya, Israel’s defence headquarters in Tel Aviv, are located in city centres next to shopping malls, offices and restaurants. Concern over a significant escalation in the Middle East conflict, which has already drawn in Hezbollah in Lebanon, pro-Iranian groups in Iraq and Yemen’s Houthis, came as Israeli forces continued to fight Palestinian militants in the north and centre of the Gaza Strip. Residents of al-Nusseirat refugee camp in central Gaza said dozens were dead or wounded after Israeli bombardment from air, land and sea that had followed a surprise ground assault on Thursday, and that houses and two mosques had been destroyed.

An explosion has hit an Iraqi military base housing pro-Iranian paramilitaries, according to security sources. The explosion on Friday night was at the Calso base, where former pro-Iranian paramilitary group Hashed al-Shaabi – now integrated into the regular army – is stationed, an interior ministry source and a military official told Agence France-Presse. The ministry official said the attack killed one person and wounded eight others, while the military source said three Iraqi military personnel were wounded, according to AFP. The Reuters news agency said two officials blamed the explosion on an airstrike but could not say who was responsible. In a statement, Hashed al-Shaabi said the attack had inflicted “material losses” and casualties, without specifying the number of wounded. The organisation said an “explosion” had hit its premises. “The explosion hit equipment, weapons and vehicles,” said the ministry source. The security sources would not identify who was responsible for the attack or say whether it had been a drone strike. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. On social media, the US military said its forces were not behind the reported strike. “The United States has not conducted air strikes in Iraq today,” US Central Command (Centcom) posted on Twitter/X, adding that reports that American forces had carried out a strike were “not true”. Hashed al-Shaabi, an alliance of mainly Shia armed groups formed to fight Islamic State, is now a part of [Iraq](https://www.theguardian.com/world/iraq)’s security forces. It is also variously known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, People’s Mobilization Committee or the Popular Mobilization Units. The attack on the pro-Iranian paramilitaries comes amid regional tensions over the war between Israel and Tehran-backed Palestinian-militants Hamas. On Friday, strikes blamed on [Israel targeted a military base near Isfahan in Iran](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/19/israel-iran-airtstrikes-ifsahan-tabriz-drones-explosions), in apparent retaliation for a largely failed [Iranian attempt to carpet-bomb Israel](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/13/israel-under-fire-as-iran-launches-extensive-drone-strikes) with drones and missiles. _With Agence France-Presse and Reuters_

Jack, 22, a student in public administration, was dragged out of his university building by the arms and legs on Friday, as police forcibly removed several dozen students who had been occupying Paris’s Sciences Po university overnight in a protest against civilian deaths in Gaza. “We’ll keep going,” said the French-American student in his final year at the prestigious political science school, whose alumni include the president, Emmanuel Macron. “This is about speaking out against a genocide, it’s an international movement. We occupied the building peacefully.” Sciences Po has become the focal point of French student protests over the war in Gaza and academic ties with Israel. The protests, much smaller in scale than [those seen in the US](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/02/university-protests-arrests-ucla-dartmouth), began at elite political science faculties, but have spread to other universities in recent days. “I simply don’t want my government to be complicit in this genocide in my name,” said Jack, who slept in his clothes on a Sciences Po lecture hall floor on Thursday, having spent the evening with dozens of others holding discussion groups while also revising for exams next week. [](https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/03/were-infantilised-or-demonised-french-students-criticise-gaza-protests-crackdown#img-2) A pro-Palestinian demonstration by students of several universities in Paris. Photograph: Stéphane de Sakutin/AFP/Getty Images About 10 Sciences Po students began a hunger strike in protest at deaths in Gaza on Thursday. In the smart street on Paris’s Left Bank, Palestinian flags hung from the university windows alongside a banner saying: “Hunger strike for Gaza”, until police moved in to clear the sit-in at the request of university authorities, following the failure of hours of talks. “Those on hunger strike are doing OK, they’re being monitored by doctors and they will keep going,” said Jack, who did not give his surname. He said it was “lies and entirely wrong” to say there was any antisemitism in the movement, saying it was for peace and against civilian deaths. The government in France – which is home to the largest Jewish population outside Israel and the US, and to Europe’s largest Muslim population – has said it would be extremely firm and stop any blockades and sit-ins. Some university heads have called in police to clear buildings. The protests are happening against the backdrop of the European elections, with the government minister for higher education accusing the leftwing party [France](https://www.theguardian.com/world/france) Unbowed (_La France Insoumise_) and its leader, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, of stoking the protests for its own electoral gains. The party said the protesting students were the “honour” of France. Students from several universities gathered to protest outside the Pantheon in Paris on Friday, some of whom had been evicted from sit-ins and occupations. [](https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/03/were-infantilised-or-demonised-french-students-criticise-gaza-protests-crackdown#img-3) Students protesting in front of the Pantheon. Photograph: Benoît Tessier/Reuters Mathilde, 18, a first-year student in social and economic administration at Paris University’s Tolbiac faculty, occupied a university courtyard this week before being moved by security guards. “We’re simply trying to give voice to those facing violence in Gaza; to put the spotlight on a genocide,” she said. “But when we talk about Palestine, there’s repression. We’re infantilised or demonised and we’re not being listened to. This is not pro-Hamas, I’ve never met anyone antisemitic, we just want peace.” Her parents, from Paris, were broadly supportive, she said. It was her second big demonstration after she took part in protests against Macron’s pension policy changes while still at school. [skip past newsletter promotion](https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/03/were-infantilised-or-demonised-french-students-criticise-gaza-protests-crackdown#EmailSignup-skip-link-14) Sign up to This is Europe The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environment **Privacy Notice:** Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our [Privacy Policy](https://www.theguardian.com/help/privacy-policy). We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google [Privacy Policy](https://policies.google.com/privacy) and [Terms of Service](https://policies.google.com/terms) apply. after newsletter promotion Leonore, 18, a philosophy student, said: “We have to cause maximum disruption in order to be heard and not ignored.” Hania Hamidi, a student in sociology at Paris University and spokesperson for France’s Unef students’ union, said: “For several weeks, we’ve seen an increase in repression. Police have entered our centres of learning, debates have been held behind closed doors. We’re asking for peace in the world. Universities are a place for debate. And instead we’re seeing a muzzling of youth. There has been too much repression.” A few streets away, a Jewish students’ union had set up tables near La Sorbonne University to bring together students of all backgrounds to debate. “This is exactly what I wanted: to be able to talk,” said Yossef, a Jewish final-year journalism student who was engaged in a polite but intense exchange with Mohammed, a French-Moroccan economics PhD student. “I find it absolutely amazing to be able to stand here and talk, disagree but still talk it out, without being shocked by what the other person is saying, and – crucially – letting the other person finish,” said Mohammed. “We’re lucky that in France we can have these conversations equal to equal.” Samuel Lejoyeux, the president of the Union of Jewish students and a former student at Sciences Po, said: “If someone mobilises for Palestinian people’s rights, there isn’t a problem with that.” He said the problem was if the movement became radicalised and created antisemitism. “So what we wanted to do by creating this space of dialogue is to be able to speak about the Israel-Palestine conflict without invective and insults. We’re trying to recreate something positive because we know this conflict generates so much tension.”

The [Cannes film festival](https://www.theguardian.com/film/cannesfilmfestival) is facing strike action as it opens next week and could see protests by projectionists, floor managers and press agents who are demanding changes to the French government’s treatment of seasonal film festival staff. The festival on France’s Côte d’Azur has faced major strike action only once before, during the student protests and workers’ strikes that began in May 1968. This year a collective called _[Sous les Écrans la Dèche](https://souslesecransladeche.wordpress.com/qui-sommes-nous/)_ (The Poverty Behind the Screens), which represents more than 200 workers, has called a strike over the government’s treatment of freelance workers at festivals across France. They include projectionists, programmers, box office staff, logistics managers, floor managers, drivers, decorators and press officers. The collective said the government’s latest proposed changes to unemployment laws would make it impossible for many skilled film festival workers to get by. The workers are hired on short-term, seasonal contracts at film festivals across France. But they do not fall under France’s special unemployment insurance scheme for freelance performers, artists and technicians in the cultural sector. That scheme tops up salaries to a minimum wage, giving state support during periods of no work. The collective said changes to the French unemployment system to be introduced at the start of July would leave seasonal film festival workers in an even harder position, with a higher threshold for claiming unemployment benefits. A spokesperson for the collective said: “One after the other, we will have to give up our professions, which will jeopardise these film festivals who already say it is difficult to find staff.” They added: “The strike will not put the Cannes opening at risk, but there could be disruption during the festival.” The collective is demanding a meeting in the first week of the festival with key Cannes staff alongside representatives from the economy ministry. It wants a government commitment to draw up concrete plans for protecting festival workers. The [Cannes film festival](https://www.theguardian.com/film/cannesfilmfestival) said it acknowledged the “difficulties” faced by some staff and encouraged all parties to “come together around the bargaining table”. Meanwhile, there are fears that as a new #MeToo movement in French cinema gathers pace, the festival could be affected if fresh revelations of sexual harassment are published by French media during the event. Iris Knobloch, the Cannes president, told [Paris Match](https://www.parismatch.com/culture/cinema/iris-knobloch-cannes-et-le-metoocinema-nous-suivons-la-situation-de-pres-237269) that the festival was “extremely attentive” to the #MeToo movement and was “following the situation closely”. She said that if anyone involved in presenting a film at the festival was the target of allegations, “we would ensure the right decision was taken, case by case, in consultation with our governing body and the different parties involved”. But she said the film on show would also be taken into consideration as “the work is the real star”. [skip past newsletter promotion](https://www.theguardian.com/film/article/2024/may/11/cannes-film-festival-faces-strike-disruption-over-seasonal-workers-rights#EmailSignup-skip-link-11) Sign up to Film Weekly Take a front seat at the cinema with our weekly email filled with all the latest news and all the movie action that matters **Privacy Notice:** Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our [Privacy Policy](https://www.theguardian.com/help/privacy-policy). We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google [Privacy Policy](https://policies.google.com/privacy) and [Terms of Service](https://policies.google.com/terms) apply. after newsletter promotion Cannes will next week premiere a short film by the actor, writer and director [Judith Godrèche](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/jan/20/what-happened-to-me-mustnt-happen-to-the-next-generation-judith-godreche-on-grooming-and-frances-metoo) entitled _Moi Aussi_, or Me Too, highlighting the stories of survivors of sexual violence. Godrèche has become a leading voice in France’s [#MeToo movement](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/07/rape-inquiry-opened-judith-godreche-complaint-against-director-benoit-jacquot) after accusing the directors Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon of sexually assaulting her while she was a teenager. Both men have denied the allegations. Prosecutors have opened an inquiry. Godrèche has spoken at this year’s French film awards, the Césars, and in parliament urging an end to sexual abuse in what she described as an “incestuous” French film industry. [Gérard Depardieu](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/29/gerard-depardieu-questioned-by-french-police-over-sexual-assault-allegations), one of France’s best-known actors, will face a criminal trial in October over the alleged sexual assaults of two women on the set of a film in 2021. He is also under formal investigation in another case after the actor Charlotte Arnould alleged he raped her at his Paris home in 2018. He has denied all allegations.

An Israeli airstrike on the southern Gaza city of Rafah that killed dozens of displaced Palestinians drew widespread international condemnation Monday, with world leaders calling for an investigation into the attack and intensifying the pressure for Israel to end its military campaign in the south. President Emmanuel Macron of France said Monday he was “outraged” by the blast, and he called “for full respect for international law and an immediate cease-fire.” “These operations must stop,” he said, referring to the strike on Sunday. “There are [no safe areas](https://x.com/emmanuelmacron/status/1795041573224206368?s=46&t=WiyCJ3iOZhKl5lJ3ldGVBA) in Rafah for Palestinian civilians.” The strike came just two days after the International Court of Justice appeared to order Israel to immediately halt its offensive in the city. A legal official with the Israeli military said the strike was under review. Volker Türk, the United Nations human rights chief, said, “What is shockingly clear is that by striking such an area, densely packed with civilians, this was an entirely predictable outcome.” Spanish foreign minister José Manuel Albares [said at a news conference](https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/spain-ask-eu-partners-back-icj-over-israel-2024-05-27/) Monday that he planned to ask other foreign ministers from the European Union’s member states to support the World Court’s rulings against Israel and to take measures if Israel continues with its Rafah operations. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and [log into](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F05%2F27%2Fworld%2Fmiddleeast%2Frafah-israel-strike-leaders-ceasefire.html&asset=opttrunc) your Times account, or [subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F05%2F27%2Fworld%2Fmiddleeast%2Frafah-israel-strike-leaders-ceasefire.html) for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? [Log in](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F05%2F27%2Fworld%2Fmiddleeast%2Frafah-israel-strike-leaders-ceasefire.html&asset=opttrunc). Want all of The Times? [Subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F05%2F27%2Fworld%2Fmiddleeast%2Frafah-israel-strike-leaders-ceasefire.html).

**On Today’s Episode:** * **[Israeli Strike Kills Dozens at Civilian Shelter in Gaza](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/06/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-school-killing.html)**, _by Aaron Boxerman, Abu Bakr Bashir, Erika Solomon and Thomas Fuller_ * **[Witness in Hunter Biden Trial Gives Intimate Portrait of His Drug Use](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/06/us/politics/hallie-biden-hunter-gun-trial-testimony.html)**, _by Glenn Thrush, Eileen Sullivan and Zach Montague_ * **[Minority Groups’ Uninsured Rate Has Plunged in Recent Years, Reports Find](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/07/us/health-insurance-minority-groups.html)**, _by Noah Weiland_ * **[Pat Sajak, the Cool, Unflappable, Reliable Host, Signs Off](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/07/style/pat-sajak-wheel-of-fortune-host.html)**, _by Guy Trebay_ Image Mourners gathered around the bodies of people killed in an Israeli airstrike at a U.N. school housing displaced Palestinians in Nuseirat on Thursday.Credit...Bashar Taleb/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

PARIS -- French President Emmanuel Macron could awake — if he has slept at all — with clipped wings on Monday morning. The high-stakes second round of the [legislative election on Sunday](https://apnews.com/article/france-election-campaign-left-right-violence-386f52a46a2eca14d3c15897e15a853a) will almost certainly impact the French leader's sway in the areas of [defense and foreign affairs](https://apnews.com/article/france-election-macron-weakened-far-right-3a9f54a3de796f76eae449523015d371). It could diminish his role as an energetic and influential figure in European and world affairs and as one of Ukraine's primary backers in [the war against Russia](https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine), say retired French military officers and analysts of France's defense and foreign policies. After the centrist president's bloc finished a distant third, behind the surging far right, in last weekend's [first round of voting](https://apnews.com/article/france-election-far-right-macron-193233ade08821a71731980d8a17eb4a) for a new parliament, one of the only certainties before Sunday's decisive round two is that Macron himself can't emerge strengthened. With many of its candidates already out of the race, Macron's camp can't secure the absolute majority that gave him ample maneuvering room in his first term as president from 2017. It also is likely to fall well short of the 245 seats it won after his reelection in 2022. That made it the largest single group — albeit without a clear majority — in the outgoing National Assembly that Macron dissolved on June 9, triggering the surprise election after the far right handed his alliance a painful beating in French voting for the European Parliament. That leaves two outcomes most likely to emerge on Sunday night to Monday as official results come in. In one scenario, France could end up with a fragmented parliament and a prime minister too weak to seriously undermine Macron's constitutionally guaranteed role as head of the armed forces and, more broadly, unable or unwilling to majorly challenge his defense and foreign-policy powers. Still, even in this best-case scenario for Macron, France risks becoming inward-looking, more focused on its polarized and unstable domestic politics than its place and military activities in the world. In a second scenario, a worst case for Macron, the far right could secure an historic victory on Sunday that saddles the president with Jordan Bardella as prime minister, in an awkward and possibly conflictual power-sharing arrangement. The 28-year-old Bardella is a protege of [Marine Le Pen](https://apnews.com/article/france-le-pen-far-right-elections-89c9f07aef85fea66420155cfcdeb8fc), who leads the far-right National Rally party, with Bardella as its president. Both Le Pen and Bardella have made clear that, in power, they would seek to rein in Macron and exert themselves in defense, European and foreign affairs decision-making. The French Constitution only gives limited answers to how the various scenarios might play out. In large part, it could depend on the personalities of those involved and their ability to compromise, French analysts say. Although the constitution says the president is commander in chief, it also says the prime minister “is responsible for national defense.” During the campaign, Bardella laid out what he said would be "my red lines” with regards to Ukraine, if he ends up sharing power with Macron: No more French deliveries of long-range weaponry that Ukraine could use to strike targets in Russia and no sending of troops, [a scenario that Macron floated](https://apnews.com/article/france-macron-ukraine-troops-caa788d2455dafb06dd87f79c4afe06f) this year. Bardella said he doesn't want nuclear-armed France to be drawn into direct confrontation with nuclear-armed Russia. His party has [historically been close to Russia](https://apnews.com/general-news-96c01541f5a640e185b8881321fe4858) and Le Pen [cultivated ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin](https://apnews.com/general-news-9fd3a3f874b343d8a8bd00a24fdd088e) for many years and supported Russia’s illegal annexation of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. Who would have the final word in potential arguments over long-range weapons for Kyiv is “actually quite a tricky one,” says François Heisbourg, a French analyst on defense and security questions at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. “The president can probably do it if he wanted to, but the prime minister could also state that he can prevent the president from doing so,” he says. “It can become a deadlock.” “If they don’t agree, they can actually prevent each other from doing anything.” Power-sharing isn't new to France. But in previous cases, the president and prime minister weren't as sharply opposed politically as Macron and Bardella. “Nobody until now has tried to test these respective powers to their ultimate conclusion. This is completely uncharted territory,” Heisbourg says. On military affairs, Le Pen has already delivered a warning shot, calling Macron's role as commander in chief “an honorary title for the president since it’s the prime minister who holds the purse strings." Macron retorted: “What arrogance!” French retired Vice Adm. Michel Olhagaray, a former head of France’s center for higher military studies, is concerned that what he describes as the constitutional “blur” about shared military responsibilities could ripple through the ranks of the country's armed forces. Conflictual power-sharing could be “something extremely painful for the armies, to know who the armies will obey. Very painful, very difficult,” he says. “In any case, the president of the republic can no longer take personal initiatives, like launching a (military) operation, etc., because that requires an understanding with the prime minister." Because the French military operates across the globe, with forces deployed on the eastern flank of the NATO alliance, in Africa, the Middle East and elsewhere, changes to its posture by a power-sharing government are sure to be scrutinized by France's international network of allies and partners. “They will all ask, ‘But what is happening? How will this evolve? What will become of France? Will France keep its commitments?’” Olhagaray says. But analysts say France's nuclear forces shouldn't be impacted. The president holds the nuclear codes, not least to ensure that the arsenal remains credible as a deterrent by making sure that potential enemies understand that any decision to strike isn't taken by committee. If no clear majority emerges for any single bloc from Sunday's voting, lawmakers may have to do something that's not a tradition in France: build a coalition government. Because the prime minister at its head will need broad consensus in parliament to keep the government from falling, that person is more likely to be a weakened junior partner in sharing power with Macron. “The president will have much more control,” says retired Gen. Dominique Trinquand, a former head of France’s military mission at the United Nations. In a coalition government, consensus-building on tough foreign policy questions — such as whether to greatly boost aid to Ukraine — could take time, and issues that divide might be put on the back burner. “The room to maneuver would be narrowed,” says Frédéric Charillon, a professor of political science at Paris Cité University. “In France, we are much more used to this kind of, you know, presidential system of monarchic foreign policy, when the president says, ‘I will do this, I will do that.’” But in the power-sharing arrangement with a new prime minister that now awaits Macron, “It cannot work like that.”

Workers have gone on strike at the five-star hotel in Paris where members of the International Olympic Committee are staying PARIS -- Workers went on strike Thursday at the five-star hotel in Paris where members of the International Olympic Committee are staying, walking out just a day before the opening ceremony of the Games. According to the major French union CGT, the IOC paid the hotel where staffers were striking, Hôtel du Collectionneur, 22 million euros ($23.88 million) for exclusive use of the facility. The Paris division of the CGT posted a video on social media appearing to be from inside the hotel, showing around a dozen staffers lining a corridor. Employees held signs reading, “No 13th month, no Olympics!," “Luxury hotel, poverty wages” and “Give us back our social benefits." Many companies in France pay their workers a bonus in December known as the “13th month." The CGT said the employees were demanding a pay increase, having not received a raise for seven years. The strike comes after a fifth round of negotiations failed Wednesday. “Negotiations with the unions are underway, without affecting the operation of our hotel," management for Hôtel du Collectionneur said in a statement Thursday. "Our teams remain mobilized and committed to ensuring that our services run smoothly.” Although a dividend of over 9.5 million euros ($10.3 million) was given to shareholders this year, the union says the hotel has made no attempt to improve the financial situation of its staff. In a separate protest, around 200 performers stood along the Seine River on Monday and refused to take part in a rehearsal for the opening ceremony being held Friday, protesting working conditions and inequality in the treatment of entertainment workers at the Paris games. The protests come as tensions run high following recent legislative elections, putting France on the brink of a governing [paralysis](https://apnews.com/article/france-election-left-far-right-macron-7c61d22e610c8ceef133e26bd8c847ee) — which, in turn, has sparked further calls for strikes. Sophie Binet, general secretary of the CGT, called this month for mass demonstrations and possible strikes to pressure President Emmanuel Macron into “respecting the results” of the election and allow a left-wing coalition to form a new government. Binet didn’t rule out strikes during the Olympics. Asked about strikes that could disrupt the biggest event France has ever organized, she said, “At this stage, we don’t plan a strike during the Olympic Games. But if Emmanuel Macron continues to throw gasoline cans on the fires that he lighted ...” CGT has an open call for potential strikes by public service workers from July through September.

Before dawn on the day of the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, arsonists on Friday sabotaged three critical high-speed rail lines, stranding thousands of travelers, heightening security fears and blighting what President Emmanuel Macron hoped to be a moment of national glory. Around 4 a.m., the arsonists cut through and burned cables used for signaling and security near three rail divides, the French authorities said. The carefully placed strikes snarled end-of-week travel plans for more than a million people, including Parisians leaving for vacation and international travelers en route to the opening ceremony of the Games. Parts of the prized rail system came to a standstill. A fourth sabotage attempt was foiled, the authorities said, when railway workers doing maintenance work in Vergigny, southeast of Paris, stumbled upon suspicious individuals who fled before any damage was done. No one was killed or reported injured. The Paris prosecutor’s office, which handles major organized crime cases, said it had opened an investigation into what it called criminal vandalism and criminal conspiracy. No immediate claim of responsibility was made. “This operation was prepared, coordinated, critical points were targeted, which shows they knew enough about the network to know where to strike,” Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said. He added, “All of our services are obviously mobilized to organize the games so that they are a success.” Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and [log into](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F07%2F26%2Fworld%2Feurope%2Frail-sabotage-france-olympics.html&asset=opttrunc) your Times account, or [subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F07%2F26%2Fworld%2Feurope%2Frail-sabotage-france-olympics.html) for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? [Log in](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F07%2F26%2Fworld%2Feurope%2Frail-sabotage-france-olympics.html&asset=opttrunc). Want all of The Times? [Subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F07%2F26%2Fworld%2Feurope%2Frail-sabotage-france-olympics.html).

A frantic diplomatic push to deter Israel from striking Beirut in response to a deadly rocket attack on the Golan Heights was under way on Monday, as the government of the UK, Germany, France and America issued travel warnings to their citizens, calling on them to leave [Lebanon](https://www.theguardian.com/world/lebanon) or avoid travel there. British foreign secretary David Lammy said events were “fast-moving” and that British nationals were advised “to leave Lebanon and not to travel to the country.” In its travel guidance, the UK Foreign Office warned events in the region could escalate with “little warning” and leave commercial routes out of Lebanon severely disrupted. “Do not rely on FCDO \[Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office\] being able to evacuate you in an emergency,” it added. Rena Bitter, the assistant secretary for consular affairs at the US embassy in Beirut [used a video on X](https://x.com/usembassybeirut/status/1817847016510165251) to tell Americans in Lebanon to “create a crisis plan of action and leave before the crisis begins”. Some flights to and from Beirut’s international airport have been cancelled this week, with Jordan’s flag carrier, Royal Jordanian, becoming the latest on Monday, suspending flights until at least Tuesday. Washington is racing to avert a full-blown war between Israel and the Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah after the attack on the [Israeli-occupied Golan killed 12 youths at the weekend](https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/27/attack-kills-10-young-people-in-israeli-occupied-golan-heights). Israel and the US have blamed Hezbollah for the rocket strike, though the group has denied responsibility. The US has reportedly focused its high-speed diplomacy on constraining Israel’s response by urging it against targeting densely populated Beirut, the southern suburbs of the city that form Hezbollah’s heartland, or key infrastructure like airports and bridges. [](https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/30/lebanon-israel-attack-travel-warnings-for-uk-germany-france-america-citizens#img-2) Passengers wait after their flights were delayed or canceled at Rafik Hariri International Airport, in Beirut. Photograph: Wael Hamzeh/EPA Lebanon’s deputy parliament speaker Elias Bou Saab, who said he had been in contact with US mediators since Saturday’s Golan attack, told Reuters that [Israel](https://www.theguardian.com/world/israel) could avert the threat of major escalation by sparing the capital and its environs. “If they avoid civilians and they avoid Beirut and its suburbs, then their attack could be well calculated,” he said. A spokesperson for the national security council told the Guardian that Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu had not spoken since the rocket attack but stressed that US officials had been in regular contact with both Lebanese and Israeli officials since the strike. Lebanese foreign minister Abdallah Bou Habib said the flurry of diplomatic activity has sought to contain the anticipated Israeli response, but an attack was expected. “Israel will escalate in a limited way and Hezbollah will respond in a limited way … These are the assurances we’ve received,” Bou Habib said in an interview with local broadcaster Al-Jadeed.’ The Israeli calculation that it could conduct a large volume of strikes deeper into Lebanese territory, strike targets in Beirut or even hit facilities belonging to the Lebanese state rather than the militant group could prove to be high-risk strategies, Danny Citrinowicz, an analyst with Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, said. On Monday, Netanyahu, [promised a “harsh” response to the rocket strike on the occupied Golan Heights](https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/29/israeli-drones-hit-southern-lebanon-tensions-mount-golan-heights-attack), saying, “the state of [Israel](https://www.theguardian.com/world/israel) will not and cannot let this pass. In a briefing to reporters, John Kirby, the White House national security council communications adviser, called warnings of all-out war “exaggerated”. “Nobody wants a broader war, and I’m confident that we’ll be able to avoid such an outcome,” Kirby said. “I’ll let the Israelis speak to whatever their response is going to be.” Iran’s new president Masoud Pezeshkian, whose country supports Hezbollah and Hamas, warned Israel against attacking Lebanon, which he said would be “a great mistake with heavy consequences”. Pezeshkian spoke with French president Emmanuel Macron on Monday, with the Élysée Palace saying Macron told his counterpart “all must be done to avoid a military escalation” and urging Tehran to “cease its support for destabilising actors”. _Reuters, Agence France-Presse and PA Media contributed to this report_

An Israeli airstrike on a school functioning as a shelter in Gaza City killed at least 30 people and injured dozens more on Sunday, according to the Palestinian emergency response agency in Gaza and Palestinian news outlets. It was the third attack on a school in the last four days. Most of the victims were women and children, said Mahmoud Basal, a spokesman for the Palestinian Civil Defense. He said that an F-16 fighter jet hit a school called Hassan Salame, where at least 14 people were still buried under the rubble. Shrapnel and debris also hit a neighboring school known as Nasser, he said. The death toll was initially 25, but rose to 30. It was unclear if any of those killed were militants. The Israeli military said it had targeted “terrorists” in “Hamas command and control centers” located at the Hassan Salame and Nasser schools. It said it had taken “numerous steps to mitigate the risk of harming civilians” before the strike, including using precision munitions, surveillance and intelligence, though it did not specify how it had done so. People and emergency crews look for survivors following an Israeli strike that targeted the Nasser school and another, both of which serve as shelters for displaced people in Gaza City.Credit...Omar Al-Qattaa/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images A woman mourns following an attack on a shelter-turned-school in Gaza City.Credit...Omar Al-Qattaa/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images But civilians paid dearly. “Right in front of me, there was a 5-year-old child dying. How is that related to Oct. 7?” Mr. Basal said. “If you want to kill someone, kill him away from other people.” Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and [log into](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F08%2F04%2Fworld%2Fmiddleeast%2Fisrael-gaza-strike-shelter.html&asset=opttrunc) your Times account, or [subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F08%2F04%2Fworld%2Fmiddleeast%2Fisrael-gaza-strike-shelter.html) for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? [Log in](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F08%2F04%2Fworld%2Fmiddleeast%2Fisrael-gaza-strike-shelter.html&asset=opttrunc). Want all of The Times? [Subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F08%2F04%2Fworld%2Fmiddleeast%2Fisrael-gaza-strike-shelter.html).

Two French pilots have died after their Rafale jets collided in mid-air in eastern [France](https://www.theguardian.com/world/france), President Emmanuel Macron has said, in a rare accident involving the cutting-edge military aircraft. One pilot ejected after the crash over northeastern France on Wednesday, but authorities had launched a desperate search for a missing instructor and a student pilot on the second jet. “We learn with sadness the death of Capt Sebastien Mabire and Lt Matthis Laurens in an air accident in a Rafale training mission,” Macron posted on X. “The nation shares the grief of their families and brothers in arms at airbase 113 in Saint-Dizier” in eastern France, he added. “One of the pilots was found safe and sound,” defence minister Sebastien Lecornu said earlier on X. It was not immediately clear what caused the collision that authorities said occurred over Colombey-les-Belles, a town in northeastern France. “The military authorities will report on the causes of the accident,” said the local prefecture. The supersonic Rafale “multi-role” fighter – used to hunt enemy planes, strike ground and sea targets, carry out reconnaissance and even carry France’s nuclear warheads – has become a bestseller for the French arms industry. Accidents involving Rafale jets are rare. “We heard a loud noise, around 12.30pm (10.30 GMT),” Patrice Bonneaux, deputy mayor of Colombey-les-Belles, told AFP. It was not the usual sonic boom of a fighter jet breaking the sound barrier, he said. “It was a strange noise, a percussive sound”. “I assumed that two planes had collided, but we didn’t believe it,” he said, adding that a road bordering a nearby forest had been cordoned off. In December 2007, a Rafale jet crashed near Neuvic in southwestern France. Investigators concluded that the pilot had become disoriented. That was believed to be the first crash of a Rafale. In September 2009, two Rafale aircraft went down as they flew back to the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle off the coast of Perpignan after completing a test flight. One pilot died. France has sold the Rafale to Egypt, India, [Greece](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/19/greece-receives-six-french-fighter-jets-as-part-of-115bn-military-overhaul), Indonesia, Croatia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Lecornu said in January that France had ordered 42 new Rafale fighter jets, with the first to be delivered in 2027. The French military has now ordered more than 230 Rafales since the jet went into service. Macron has urged defence manufacturers to boost production and innovation as Europe seeks to increase arms supplies to buttress Ukraine, which has been [struggling to fight off Russia’s invasion](https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2024/aug/08/how-russias-summer-offensive-is-reshaping-the-war-in-ukraine), now in its third year.

Ukraine struck Russia with one of its largest drone attacks of the war on Tuesday, killing a woman in the Moscow area, setting off fires in high-rise buildings and forcing the closure of major airports near the capital, Kremlin officials said. The Russian Ministry of Defense said it had shot down 144 Ukrainian drones in multiple regions ranging from the border area near the war zone in southwestern Russia to suburban towns around Moscow, highlighting Ukraine’s growing capability to strike back at Russia with a fleet of domestically made, long-range weapons. About 20 of the drones were intercepted over the Moscow region, the ministry said. Ukraine did not immediately comment on the strikes. Taking the war to Russia has become a focus of Ukraine’s strategy over the summer, most prominently in [a surprise ground incursion into the Kursk region of Russia](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/08/23/world/europe/ukraine-russia-kursk-invasion-map.html), capturing more than 500 square miles of territory. At the same time, it has stepped up long-range strikes, even as Russia has repeatedly bombarded Ukraine with missiles and [pressed ahead with an offensive](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/05/world/europe/russia-ukraine-putin-kursk.html) in the country’s east. Rubble in Ramenskoye, near Moscow, on Tuesday. Taking the war to Russia has become a focus of Ukraine’s strategy over the summer.Credit...Tatyana Makeyeva/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and [log into](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F09%2F10%2Fworld%2Feurope%2Frussia-moscow-drone-strike-ukraine.html&asset=opttrunc) your Times account, or [subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F09%2F10%2Fworld%2Feurope%2Frussia-moscow-drone-strike-ukraine.html) for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? [Log in](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F09%2F10%2Fworld%2Feurope%2Frussia-moscow-drone-strike-ukraine.html&asset=opttrunc). Want all of The Times? [Subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F09%2F10%2Fworld%2Feurope%2Frussia-moscow-drone-strike-ukraine.html).

Image Inspecting debris on Tuesday at the site of an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon.Credit...Mahmoud Zayyat/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Rescue teams searched through the rubble early on Thursday after an overnight Israeli strike in southern Lebanon killed at least five members of the country’s civil defense agency, according to Lebanon’s health ministry and state news media. The strike hit a civil defense base of operations where the emergency workers were waiting to respond to relief calls, said Elie Khairallah, a spokesman for the agency. The agency’s regional chief was among those killed, he said, adding that the building, situated near a church in the southern Lebanese town of Derdghaiya, was leveled in the attack. Lebanon’s health ministry condemned the killings, accusing the Israeli military of targeting ambulance crews and rescue teams. There was no immediate comment from Israel’s military. At least 65 health workers have been killed in Lebanon since Israel intensified its offensive there against the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah three weeks ago, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday. It added that the agency had recorded 16 “attacks on health care” across the country in the same period of time. As the Israeli military continued to pound Hezbollah targets across Lebanon on Thursday, the country’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, suggested that diplomatic efforts with the United States and France to secure a pause in the fighting had “intensified.” Mr. Mikati’s comments, in a statement from his office, could not be independently verified. There was no immediate comment from the United States or France, which last month had put forward a proposal for a 21-day pause in the fighting. The Israeli military said on Thursday that it had struck 110 sites in Lebanon over the past day and claimed that it had killed two Hezbollah commanders. Hezbollah did not comment on the claims. Hezbollah also kept up its rocket attacks into Israel on Thursday, with the Israeli military saying that 40 projectiles had been launched from Lebanon in the morning, setting off sirens in parts of the country’s north. Some were intercepted but several struck the area, according to the military. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. Hezbollah said it had been targeting Israeli troops stationed along the border with Lebanon, and in the city of Kiryat Shmona. On Wednesday, a rocket attack in Kiryat Shmona [killed two civilians](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/09/world/middleeast/israel-hezbollah-lebanon.html).

Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20Lebanese%20governor%20decries%20‘massacre’%20after%20mayor%20among%20those%20killed%20in%20Israeli%20attack&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/oct/16/middle-east-crisis-live-blog-israel-lebanon-attacks-beirut-strike?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-670fa44b8f0898da3e0b5843#block-670fa44b8f0898da3e0b5843) **Palestinian** farmers in the **occupied West Bank** are facing “the most dangerous olive season ever”, experts said on Wednesday, urging **Israeli** settlers and forces not to interfere with the harvest. Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports that the experts also recommended a “foreign presence” to act as a buffer between the two sides. According to AFP, a dozen experts said farmers were facing intimidation, restriction of access to lands, severe harassment and attacks by armed Israeli settlers and Israeli security forces. “In 2023, the harvest was marred by a sharp increase in movement restrictions and violence by Israeli forces and settlers,” the independent experts said in a statement. Last year, they said:“Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, faced the highest level of Israeli settler violence.” Settlers had assaulted Palestinians, set fire to or damaged their crops, stolen sheep and blocked them from getting to their land, water and grazing areas, the statement added. “Last year, Israel also seized more Palestinian land than in any year in the past 30 years,” they said, adding that the situation was “expected to worsen”. [](https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/oct/16/middle-east-crisis-live-blog-israel-lebanon-attacks-beirut-strike#img-2) Palestinian and foreign volunteers help in olive picking during the harvest season in the village of Qusra, south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, on Tuesday. Photograph: Zain Jaafar/AFP/Getty Images Olive harvests are central to Palestinian life and culture, said the independent experts, who are mandated by the **Human Rights Council** but do not speak for the UN. “Restricting olive harvests, destroying orchards and banning access to water sources is an attempt by Israel to expand its illegal settlements,” they argued. **Francesca Albanese**, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, was among the signatories, reports AFP. The experts, also including those on the right to food, to safe drinking water and sanitation and to adequate housing, said Palestinian farmers were facing “enormous challenges, threats and harassment” in accessing their olive trees. In 2023, more than 9,600 hectares (24,000 acres) of olive-cultivated land across the occupied West Bank was not harvested due to Israeli-imposed restrictions, they said. That had meant the loss of 1,200 metric tonnes of olive oil, worth $10m, they added. “This situation is expected to worsen,” they warned, as the Israeli authorities had revoked or failed to issue permits allowing farmers to access their lands. They urged Israeli forces to refrain from interfering with this year’s olive harvest, and “concentrate their efforts on withdrawing the occupation and dismantling the colonies”. The experts said they would “continue to call for protection, including through a foreign presence acting as a buffer between the Palestinians and their aggressors, and to protect Palestinian farmers and their families”. [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20Lebanese%20governor%20decries%20‘massacre’%20after%20mayor%20among%20those%20killed%20in%20Israeli%20attack&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/oct/16/middle-east-crisis-live-blog-israel-lebanon-attacks-beirut-strike?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-670f9baf8f08ff54487be378#block-670f9baf8f08ff54487be378) **The UN Palestinian refugee agency is close to a possible breaking point for its operations in the [Gaza](https://www.theguardian.com/world/gaza) Strip** due to increasingly complicated conditions, its head said. UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini told journalists at a news conference in Berlin: > > _I will not hide the fact that we might reach a point that we won’t be able anymore to operate._ > > _We are very near to a possible breaking point. When will it be? I don’t know. But we are very near of that._ He said the agency was facing a combination of a financial and political threats to its existence, in addition to difficulties in day-to-day operations, as aid is even more desperately needed against the threat of disease and famine. He said there was a real risk, heading into winter, with people’s immune systems weakened, that famine or acute malnutrition could become a likelihood. [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20Lebanese%20governor%20decries%20‘massacre’%20after%20mayor%20among%20those%20killed%20in%20Israeli%20attack&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/oct/16/middle-east-crisis-live-blog-israel-lebanon-attacks-beirut-strike?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-670fa2808f088ef416005fe3#block-670fa2808f088ef416005fe3) The UN special coordinator for [Lebanon](https://www.theguardian.com/world/lebanon) Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert has said that **civilian suffering has reached an unprecedented level**. Her comments follow an Israeli strike in the south which killed at least six people and hurt 43, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. She also urged the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure after deadly Israeli strikes hit municipality buildings in the southern city of Nabatiyeh on Wednesday. Hennis-Plasschaert said in a statement: > _Today, Israeli air strikes hit the town of Nabatiyeh in southern Lebanon, yet again._ She added that “civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected at all times”. [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20Lebanese%20governor%20decries%20‘massacre’%20after%20mayor%20among%20those%20killed%20in%20Israeli%20attack&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/oct/16/middle-east-crisis-live-blog-israel-lebanon-attacks-beirut-strike?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-670fa0a88f08ff54487be3c3#block-670fa0a88f08ff54487be3c3) **The EU countries contributing to the United Nations peacekeeping mission in [Lebanon](https://www.theguardian.com/world/lebanon), dubbed as UNIFIL, say it is “essential and fundamental”** and only the UN can decide whether to end it, Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles has said after a video call with 15 of her counterparts. She said in a video statement sent to reporters: > _All the countries that are part of it are firmly supporting the UNIFIL mission, our soldiers, our people who are there._ EU countries, led by Italy, France and Spain, have thousands of troops in the 10,000-strong peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, which has said it has repeatedly come under attack from Israeli forces in recent days. [Israel](https://www.theguardian.com/world/israel) has called on the United Nations to move the troops out of the combat zone. [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20Lebanese%20governor%20decries%20‘massacre’%20after%20mayor%20among%20those%20killed%20in%20Israeli%20attack&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/oct/16/middle-east-crisis-live-blog-israel-lebanon-attacks-beirut-strike?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-670fa03b8f08ff54487be3bc#block-670fa03b8f08ff54487be3bc) **Palestinian health officials called on Wednesday for a humanitarian corridor to three hospitals in northern Gaza that have come close to collapse** as Israeli troops have cut off the area during almost two weeks of heavy fighting against Hamas. Reuters reports: Doctors at the Kamal Adwan, Al-Awda and the Indonesian hospitals have refused to leave their patients despite evacuation orders issued by the Israeli military at the start of a major push into the Jabalia area of northern Gaza 12 days ago. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, said: > _We are calling on the international community, the Red Cross and the World Health Organisation, to play their humanitarian role by opening up a corridor towards our healthcare system and allow the entry of fuel, medical, delegations, supplies and food._ > > _We are talking about more than 300 medical staff working at Kamal Adwan Hospital, and we can’t provide even a single meal for them to be able to offer medical services safely._ [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20Lebanese%20governor%20decries%20‘massacre’%20after%20mayor%20among%20those%20killed%20in%20Israeli%20attack&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/oct/16/middle-east-crisis-live-blog-israel-lebanon-attacks-beirut-strike?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-670f9ede8f0898da3e0b57e4#block-670f9ede8f0898da3e0b57e4)  Daniel Hurst The **Australian** foreign affairs minister, **[Penny Wong](https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/penny-wong)**, has been heckled by **pro-Palestine** advocates as she gave a speech warning that “disregard for international humanitarian law is increasing”. Addressing the **University of [Tasmania](https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/tasmania)** on Tuesday night, Wong released Australia’s new humanitarian policy and repeated the government’s call for ceasefires in **Gaza** and **Lebanon**. But the speech was interrupted by pro-Palestine advocates who called on the government to take firm action against the **Israeli** government rather than express concerns. Wong initially responded to the hecklers by saying that she recognised that “everyone’s voice matters” in a democracy and that “this is a very distressing \[time\]”. She added: “I don’t actually believe, and I’ve never believed, that we gain anything by shouting each other down.” In [a clip broadcast by the ABC](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-16/foreign-minister-penny-wong-interrupted-during/104477752), a person in the audience can be heard shouting: “What we need right now is leaders that have the backbone – that are willing to do something that isn’t just talk.” Another person can be heard interjecting: “You’ve had chances at a national and international level to change what is happening in [Lebanon](https://www.theguardian.com/world/lebanon), in Palestine … there’s blood on your hands.” The clip shows Wong walking away from the podium temporarily while the interjections continued. A moderator said he was “asking both of you please to leave the venue”. In an interview with ABC Radio Tasmania on Wednesday morning, Wong said it was “probably the 10th interruption” when she became “a bit frustrated I couldn’t finish a sentence”. “Some of the things that were being said and shouted were not true,” she said. “One example is being told to stop bombing Lebanon. We are calling for a ceasefire in Lebanon.” _You can read the full piece by Guardian Australia’s foreign affairs and defence correspondent, **[Daniel Hurst](https://www.theguardian.com/profile/daniel-hurst)**, here:_ [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20Lebanese%20governor%20decries%20‘massacre’%20after%20mayor%20among%20those%20killed%20in%20Israeli%20attack&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/oct/16/middle-east-crisis-live-blog-israel-lebanon-attacks-beirut-strike?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-670f933e8f08ff54487be303#block-670f933e8f08ff54487be303) As **Israel** fights **Hezbollah** in **Lebanon**, **UN** peacekeepers in southern Lebanon have complained that Israel has been firing on their positions and the UN has said more than 15 of its soldiers have been injured. Israel has said it is not attacking the peacekeepers but called on them to leave the area, insisting they have failed in their mandate to disarm Hezbollah along the so-called **blue line**. But the UN says it will not pull out. In the latest episode of the [Today in Focus](https://www.theguardian.com/news/series/todayinfocus) podcast, the Guardian’s diplomatic editor, **Patrick Wintour,** explains that this row has decade-long roots and that Israel and the UN have had a bitter relationship almost from the start. [ How UN peacekeepers ended up in Israel’s line of fire – podcast ](https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2024/oct/16/how-un-peacekeepers-ended-up-in-israels-line-of-fire-podcast) [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20Lebanese%20governor%20decries%20‘massacre’%20after%20mayor%20among%20those%20killed%20in%20Israeli%20attack&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/oct/16/middle-east-crisis-live-blog-israel-lebanon-attacks-beirut-strike?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-670f9b108f088ef416005f66#block-670f9b108f088ef416005f66) **Iran**’s president **Masoud Pezeshkian** on Wednesday called for more pressure on Israel’s backers to end killings in **Gaza** and **Lebanon**, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP). “The president … demanded more pressure on the supporters of the Zionist regime (Israel) to stop the killings” in Gaza and Lebanon, Pezeshkian said during a phone call with **Oman**’s **Sultan Haitham bin Tariq**, according to a presidency statement. [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20Lebanese%20governor%20decries%20‘massacre’%20after%20mayor%20among%20those%20killed%20in%20Israeli%20attack&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/oct/16/middle-east-crisis-live-blog-israel-lebanon-attacks-beirut-strike?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-670f991f8f08ff54487be34a#block-670f991f8f08ff54487be34a) **Hezbollah** said it targeted an **Israeli** army tank near a border village with a guided missile on Wednesday, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP), as attacks escalated after Israel intensified bombing of the country last month. Hezbollah fighters “targeted a Merkava tank near the village of Ramia … with a guided missile”, the **Iran**\-backed group said in a statement, adding the attack was “in defence of [Lebanon](https://www.theguardian.com/world/lebanon) and its people”. [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20Lebanese%20governor%20decries%20‘massacre’%20after%20mayor%20among%20those%20killed%20in%20Israeli%20attack&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/oct/16/middle-east-crisis-live-blog-israel-lebanon-attacks-beirut-strike?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-670f951b8f08ff54487be31a#block-670f951b8f08ff54487be31a) The **Israeli** army on Wednesday said its forces hit dozens of **Hezbollah** targets in the **Lebanese** city of **Nabatiyeh**, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP). “The IDF army struck dozens of Hezbollah terrorist targets in the Nabatiyeh area and dismantled underground infrastructure used by Hezbollah’s Radwan Forces in southern [Lebanon](https://www.theguardian.com/world/lebanon),” the army said in a statement. Lebanese prime minister **Najib Mikati** condemned the deadly Israeli strikes on Wednesday saying the Israeli army intentionally targeted a municipality meeting ([see 11.03am BST](https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/oct/16/middle-east-crisis-live-blog-israel-lebanon-attacks-beirut-strike?page=with:block-670f8e418f088ef416005ecd#block-670f8e418f088ef416005ecd)). Lebanon’s health ministry said five people were killed in the strike. [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20Lebanese%20governor%20decries%20‘massacre’%20after%20mayor%20among%20those%20killed%20in%20Israeli%20attack&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/oct/16/middle-east-crisis-live-blog-israel-lebanon-attacks-beirut-strike?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-670f94408f088ef416005f1a#block-670f94408f088ef416005f1a) **Lebanese** official media reported on Wednesday that **Israeli** jets caused two sonic booms over **Beirut** and the surrounding area, with Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalists in the capital hearing loud bangs. “Enemy aircraft violently broke the sound barrier twice in the airspace of (Beirut’s) southern suburbs” and surroundings areas, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported. [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20Lebanese%20governor%20decries%20‘massacre’%20after%20mayor%20among%20those%20killed%20in%20Israeli%20attack&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/oct/16/middle-east-crisis-live-blog-israel-lebanon-attacks-beirut-strike?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-670f91088f08ff54487be2cf#block-670f91088f08ff54487be2cf) **Lebanese** prime minister **Najib Mikati** condemned deadly Israeli strikes on Wednesday on the southern city of **Nabatiyeh**, saying they intentionally targeted a municipality meeting. Mikati “condemned the new Israeli aggression against civilians in the city of Nabatiyeh, which deliberately targeted a meeting of the municipal council that was discussing the city’s services and relief situation,” he said in a statement, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP). A local official said the city mayor, **Ahmad Kahil**, was among the dead. [](https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/oct/16/middle-east-crisis-live-blog-israel-lebanon-attacks-beirut-strike#img-3) Ahmad Kahil (C), the mayor of Nabatiyeh, pictured on 12 October, inspecting the damage after Israeli airstrikes that targeted the marketplace of the southern Lebanese city. Photograph: Abbas Fakih/AFP/Getty Images [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20Lebanese%20governor%20decries%20‘massacre’%20after%20mayor%20among%20those%20killed%20in%20Israeli%20attack&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/oct/16/middle-east-crisis-live-blog-israel-lebanon-attacks-beirut-strike?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-670f8e418f088ef416005ecd#block-670f8e418f088ef416005ecd) The probability of an attack on **Iran**’s nuclear sites remains low but any potential damage would be “quickly compensated”, state atomic energy agency spokesperson **Behrouz Kamalvandi** said on Wednesday, reports Reuters citing the semi-official Nournews. After Iran’s missile attack on **Israel** on 1 October, there has been speculation that [Israel](https://www.theguardian.com/world/israel) could strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, as it has long threatened to do. “We have always taken these threats seriously,” Kamalvandi said. Israeli prime minister **Benjamin Netanyahu**’s office said in a statement on Tuesday that Israel would listen to the **US** but would decide its actions according to its own national interest. The statement was attached to a Washington Post article which said Netanyahu had told US president **Joe Biden**’s administration that Israel would strike Iranian military targets, not nuclear or oil targets, reports Reuters. Biden has said he would not support an attack on Iran’s nuclear sites and oil markets have been on edge over the prospect of an Israeli strike against Iranian oilfields. Kamalvandi told Nournews that any attack on Iran’s nuclear sites remained improbable and that if this happened, the damage was likely to be minimal and quickly repaired by Iran. “We have planned in a way that if they commit any stupidity, the damages would be minimal,” Kamalvandi said. According to Reuters, the Iranian spokesperson added that the **UN** nuclear watchdog and the international community should condemn any threat or attack on nuclear sites. [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20Lebanese%20governor%20decries%20‘massacre’%20after%20mayor%20among%20those%20killed%20in%20Israeli%20attack&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/oct/16/middle-east-crisis-live-blog-israel-lebanon-attacks-beirut-strike?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-670f8b8d8f0898da3e0b56c5#block-670f8b8d8f0898da3e0b56c5) * * * #### Page 2 Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature **Lebanon**’s prime minister has condemned the ‘deliberate’ **Israeli** strike on a **Nabatiyeh** municipality meeting, reports Agence France-Presse. _We will update with more details soon …_ [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20Lebanese%20governor%20decries%20‘massacre’%20after%20mayor%20among%20those%20killed%20in%20Israeli%20attack&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/oct/16/middle-east-crisis-live-blog-israel-lebanon-attacks-beirut-strike?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-670f8b018f08ff54487be260#block-670f8b018f08ff54487be260) At least 42,409 **Palestinians** have been killed and 99,153 injured in **Israel**’s military offensive on **Gaza** since 7 October 2023, the **Gaza health ministry** said on Wednesday. The health ministry does not distinguish between civilian and combatant deaths. [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20Lebanese%20governor%20decries%20‘massacre’%20after%20mayor%20among%20those%20killed%20in%20Israeli%20attack&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/oct/16/middle-east-crisis-live-blog-israel-lebanon-attacks-beirut-strike?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-670f841b8f08ff54487be1fd#block-670f841b8f08ff54487be1fd) **Italian** prime minister **Giorgia Meloni** will meet **King Abdullah of Jordan** in **Aqaba**, then the Lebanese prime minister in **Beirut** on Friday, reports Reuters. The prime minister’s office said in a note that Meloni will see **King Abdullah** at 10am GMT (11am BST), than the Lebanese premier, **Najib Mikati**, at 2.30pm GMT (3.30pm BST). [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20Lebanese%20governor%20decries%20‘massacre’%20after%20mayor%20among%20those%20killed%20in%20Israeli%20attack&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/oct/16/middle-east-crisis-live-blog-israel-lebanon-attacks-beirut-strike?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-670f82ba8f0898da3e0b5661#block-670f82ba8f0898da3e0b5661) Here are some recent images of **Nabatiyeh**, **Lebanon**, where an **Israeli** airstrike is reported to have killed five people today. [](https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/oct/16/middle-east-crisis-live-blog-israel-lebanon-attacks-beirut-strike?page=with:block-670f8b018f08ff54487be260&filterKeyEvents=false#img-2) Smoke billows near Nabatiyeh, as seen from Marjayoun, near the Lebanese border with Israel, on Wednesday. Photograph: Karamallah Daher/Reuters [](https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/oct/16/middle-east-crisis-live-blog-israel-lebanon-attacks-beirut-strike?page=with:block-670f8b018f08ff54487be260&filterKeyEvents=false#img-3) Lebanon’s health ministry said five people were killed in an Israeli strike on the southern Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh. It added that rescuers were searching for survivors under the rubble. Photograph: Abbas Fakih/AFP/Getty Images [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20Lebanese%20governor%20decries%20‘massacre’%20after%20mayor%20among%20those%20killed%20in%20Israeli%20attack&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/oct/16/middle-east-crisis-live-blog-israel-lebanon-attacks-beirut-strike?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-670f7fa58f08ff54487be1bc#block-670f7fa58f08ff54487be1bc) Further to the news that several people, including a mayor, were reported killed ([see 9.30am BST](https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/oct/16/middle-east-crisis-live-blog-israel-lebanon-attacks-beirut-strike?page=with:block-670f78ab8f088ef416005dbb#block-670f78ab8f088ef416005dbb)) on Wednesday in an **Israeli** strike on a municipality building in the southern city of **Nabatiyeh**, **Lebanon**, some more information has been shared on the news wires. According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), **Lebanon’s health ministry** said five people were killed in the strike. “The Israeli enemy raid … on two buildings, that of the Nabatiyeh municipality and the union of municipalities, killed five people in a preliminary toll,” the ministry said in a statement, adding rescuers were searching for survivors under the rubble. [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20Lebanese%20governor%20decries%20‘massacre’%20after%20mayor%20among%20those%20killed%20in%20Israeli%20attack&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/oct/16/middle-east-crisis-live-blog-israel-lebanon-attacks-beirut-strike?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-670f7d478f088ef416005de7#block-670f7d478f088ef416005de7) **Israeli** navy forces have struck dozens of **Hezbollah** targets in southern **Lebanon**, in cooperation with troops on the ground, Israel’s military said on Wednesday, reports Reuters. [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20Lebanese%20governor%20decries%20‘massacre’%20after%20mayor%20among%20those%20killed%20in%20Israeli%20attack&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/oct/16/middle-east-crisis-live-blog-israel-lebanon-attacks-beirut-strike?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-670f7ce28f088ef416005de1#block-670f7ce28f088ef416005de1) The mayor of **Nabatiyeh** was among those killed on Wednesday in **Israeli** strikes on the municipality of the southern **Lebanese** city, where **Hezbollah** and its ally **Amal** hold sway, authorities said. “The mayor of Nabatiyeh, among others … was martyred. It’s a massacre,” Nabatiyeh governor **Howaida Turk** told Agence France-Presse (AFP), adding he had been in the municipality building. Hezbollah-affiliated rescuers also told AFP that several people were killed in the strike on the municipality building including mayor **Ahmad Kahil**. [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20Lebanese%20governor%20decries%20‘massacre’%20after%20mayor%20among%20those%20killed%20in%20Israeli%20attack&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/oct/16/middle-east-crisis-live-blog-israel-lebanon-attacks-beirut-strike?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-670f78ab8f088ef416005dbb#block-670f78ab8f088ef416005dbb) **Wizz Air** said on Wednesday that it was suspending flights to and from **Tel Aviv** until 14 January due to the situation in the region. [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20Lebanese%20governor%20decries%20‘massacre’%20after%20mayor%20among%20those%20killed%20in%20Israeli%20attack&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/oct/16/middle-east-crisis-live-blog-israel-lebanon-attacks-beirut-strike?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-670f77e48f08ff54487be16f#block-670f77e48f08ff54487be16f) A **Lebanese** official said **Israel** carried out 11 airstrikes on **Nabatiyeh** and surrounding areas on Wednesday, days after strikes destroyed the southern city’s marketplace, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP). “For now, 11 strikes have mainly hit Nabatiyeh but also its surroundings,” Nabatiyeh governor **Howaida Turk** told AFP when asked about Israeli strikes, adding that the intense raids “formed a kind of belt of fire” in the area. She reported casualties but could not provide a precise toll. [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20Lebanese%20governor%20decries%20‘massacre’%20after%20mayor%20among%20those%20killed%20in%20Israeli%20attack&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/oct/16/middle-east-crisis-live-blog-israel-lebanon-attacks-beirut-strike?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-670f71da8f08ff54487be13d#block-670f71da8f08ff54487be13d)  Geneva Abdul The **Biden** administration’s call warning **Israel** to take immediate action to let more humanitarian aid into **Gaza** at risk of possible punishment, including the potential stopping of **US** weapons transfers, is “long overdue” the **Democracy for the Arab World Now (Dawn)** has said. The organisation, formed by the [late](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/02/saudi-expats-launch-opposition-party-on-anniversary-of-jamal-kashoggis-death) **[Saudi](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/02/saudi-expats-launch-opposition-party-on-anniversary-of-jamal-kashoggis-death)** [dissident](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/02/saudi-expats-launch-opposition-party-on-anniversary-of-jamal-kashoggis-death) **[Jamal Khashoggi](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/02/saudi-expats-launch-opposition-party-on-anniversary-of-jamal-kashoggis-death)**, said the letter from the US administration is an “important” and “unprecedented” signal, while urging for further action “beyond warnings”. “We now need the Biden administration to show action, not just words, in enforcing US laws, which prohibit aid to Israel given not only its relentless obstruction of humanitarian relief but deliberate starvation and incessant bombardment of Gaza’s civilians,” said Dawn’s executive director, **Sarah Leah Whitson**. A four-page letter, written by US secretary of state **Antony Blinken** and the defence secretary, **Lloyd Austin**, dated 13 October, calls on Israel’s government to ease humanitarian suffering in Gaza, by lifing restrictions on the entry of assistance within 30 days or face unspecified policy “impliciations”. The letter was sent to Israeli defence minister, **Yoav Gallant** and strategic affairs minister, **Ron Dermer**. “While the letter demands Israel rescind evacuation orders, it is time for the US to enforce these demands immediately rather than issuing vague deadlines. The US must move beyond warnings and act decisively to end its complicity in these atrocities,” added **Raed Jarrar**, Dawn’s advocacy director. [Share](mailto:?subject=Middle%20East%20crisis%20live:%20Lebanese%20governor%20decries%20‘massacre’%20after%20mayor%20among%20those%20killed%20in%20Israeli%20attack&body=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/oct/16/middle-east-crisis-live-blog-israel-lebanon-attacks-beirut-strike?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-670f6d328f088ef416005d6a#block-670f6d328f088ef416005d6a)

The US presidential election has not been the only high-stakes date looming for [Elon Musk](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/elon-musk). It has been more than a year since Swedish workers came out on strike against his electric car giant Tesla. Swedish industrial union IF Metall has been demanding better wages, benefits and conditions for mechanics in Tesla repair shops across the country, but fundamentally what is at stake is the Swedish labour market model of collective bargaining which Musk refuses to recognise. It is the [first and only strike](https://www.industriall-union.org/swedish-union-warns-of-strike-at-tesla) against Tesla anywhere in the world. And it has now become the longest-running strike in Sweden for a century. In April, six months into the dispute, Musk said: “Actually, I think the storm has passed on that front, I think things are in reasonably good shape in Sweden.” That was not true then, and [it is not true now](https://news.industriall-europe.eu/Article/1150). The past year has been marked by [a wave of solidarity strikes by other unions](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/jan/10/elon-musk-sweden-unions-tesla-labour-car) to block the shipping of Tesla cars to Swedish ports, halt the cleaning of Tesla facilities, withhold postal deliveries, including new number plates, to all Tesla offices and prevent Tesla charging stations being connected to the power grid. Tesla has repeatedly lost legal battles against these solidarity strikes, and [was recently f](https://www.arbetsvarlden.se/domstolssmall-mot-tesla-tvingas-betala-65-miljoner/)orced to pay SEK6.5m (£468,000) in legal costs to the Swedish postal service, PostNord. Twelve Swedish trade unions are involved and three Nordic ones, including Norway’s transport union Fellesforbundet and 3F Transport in Denmark. Meanwhile, Tesla has [brought in strikebreakers](https://da.se/2024/05/utlandska-strejkbrytare-flygs-in-till-teslas-verkstader-okat-kraftigt-sedan-arsskiftet/) from the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Finland, Denmark and many other European countries to cover the 52 striking workers, almost half of Tesla’s mechanics in the country. While legal under Swedish law, the use of strikebreakers is anathema for unions and employers alike in Nordic countries where unwritten rules and norms are essential to their model of worker protection, which rests on collective agreements between employer and employees negotiated via a union. In Sweden, almost 90% of the [workforce is covered by a collective agreement](https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flucris.lub.lu.se%2Fws%2Fportalfiles%2Fportal%2F153810957%2FTrade_unions_in_Sweden_2023._Updated_statistical_data.pdf&data=05%7C02%7Cljames%40etuc.org%7C7d436beecb124d45840c08dcee943ffc%7C7a57d45075f34a4da90dac04a367b91a%7C0%7C0%7C638647567736707488%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=KxpqhD7eBzFlAPJOdWq10C%2F6vZxySXQvsjyzUQ4PAG4%3D&reserved=0), across all sectors. For Tesla, this seems to be of little concern to its notoriously anti-union CEO. Yet the battle has implications far beyond this northernmost corner of Europe. The [United Auto Workers is seeking](https://www.businessinsider.com/uaw-union-vote-volkswagen-tesla-elon-musk-organizing-2024-4) to organise at Tesla factories in the US and the powerful German union [IG Metall is attempting](https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/german-union-slams-aggressive-tesla-firing-works-council-rep-2024-10-14/) to do the same in Grünheide, the site of Tesla’s only European factory. As Johan Järvklo, the international secretary of IF Metall, [has said](https://www.industriall-union.org/in-sweden-the-fight-against-tesla-continues): “It’s really a global struggle and Sweden is currently at the forefront.” [](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/nov/01/one-year-on-we-know-this-swedens-trade-unions-are-more-than-a-match-for-elon-musk#img-2) Emma Hansson, chair of the IF Metall union, Stockholms lan, stands on strike outside Tesla's service centre in Segeltorp, Sweden. Photograph: Tt News Agency/Reuters From the union perspective, allowing Tesla to get away without signing an agreement would risk encouraging other employers in Sweden and [Europe](https://www.theguardian.com/world/europe-news) to do the same. And from Tesla’s point of view, there is the concern that saying yes to collective bargaining in Sweden could be used as leverage by unions in other countries where Tesla has factories and many more employees. In Sweden, Tesla only has dealerships, offices, repair shops and charging stations. Although Tesla’s apprehension may be understandable, it stems from a limited understanding of European industrial relations systems. Joining a union is a fundamental right of all Swedish workers, and almost half of the company’s mechanics in Sweden are union members. This means that by law Tesla has to negotiate with the union on many issues, even if no collective agreement has been signed. [IF Metall recently filed a lawsuit](https://www.ifmetall.se/aktuellt/nyheter/fran-forbundet/20242/juni/if-metall-stammer-tesla-for-brott-mot-mbl/) against Tesla for failing to inform and negotiate with union members over workplace changes, in accordance with Swedish labour law. In addition, in some parts of Europe, collective bargaining agreements with one company in an industry or region extend by law to most other companies in that industry or region. This is the case in Austria, Spain, the Netherlands, Finland and France, where firms must comply with extended collective bargaining agreements whether they have signed them or not. And, it turns out, Tesla already has collective agreements in Europe. Although representatives of the company reportedly stated last year that Tesla [“has no collective agreement](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/economy/article/2023/10/31/sweden-tesla-employees-strike-to-defend-their-wages-and-social-model_6215563_19.html) anywhere in the world”, my research has uncovered [three local agreements](https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/search/acco?tab_selection=acco&searchField=ALL&query=Tesla&searchType=ALL&siret=52433526200084+TESLA+FRANCE&typePagination=DEFAULT&sortValue=PERTINENCE&pageSize=10&page=1&tab_selection=acco#acco) between Tesla France and the largest union in France [CFDT](https://www.cfdt.fr/portail/navigation-principale-asp_5000). (They are registered on Légifrance, the official website of the French government for the publication of legal documents such as collective agreements.) I believe this new discovery could help to resolve the Swedish stalemate and prevent disputes in other countries. Why? Well, since Tesla already has to comply with sectoral collective agreements in many countries, and even has local agreements in France, it would not be setting a precedent if it did the same in [Sweden](https://www.theguardian.com/world/sweden). So it should start to see unions as a partner to negotiate with, rather than an enemy. Even Tesla’s own [global human rights policy](https://www.tesla.com/legal/additional-resources#global-human-rights-policy) states that “in conformance with local law, Tesla respects the right of workers to form and join trade unions of their own choosing … or to form and join other employee representative bodies … to bargain collectively”. If the company operated in the spirit of this policy, surely it should be perfectly able to adapt to different countries’ regulations and norms and prevent this unnecessary strike in Sweden from continuing any further into its second year. As Esther Lynch, general secretary of the European TUC, said: “[Musk can make up](https://www.etuc.org/en/pressrelease/tesla-fight-collective-bargaining-continues) his own rules when he reaches Mars, but if you want to do business in Europe then you need to play by Europe’s rules and that means respecting our tradition of collective bargaining.” * German Bender is chief analyst at the progressive Swedish thinktank Arena and a senior research associate at Harvard Law School’s Center for Labor and a Just Economy. His book on the Swedish [Tesla](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/tesla) strike will be published in 2025

Thousands of teachers, health care workers, trash collectors and others walked off their jobs across Italy on Friday to protest a decline in spending power, persistently low salaries and government policies they say have weakened public services MILAN -- Thousands of teachers, health care workers, trash collectors and others walked off their jobs across Italy on Friday to protest a decline in spending power, persistently low salaries and government policies they say have weakened public services. Italy’s most powerful trade unions called the eight-hour strike and mobilized marches in cities across the country to target Premier Giorgia Meloni’s latest budget that they say penalizes schools, health care and other services. They also are pressing for a more equitable distribution of profits from private companies to workers. “These protests don’t just speak to the government,’’ Maurizio Landini, head of the powerful CGIL conglomerate, told reporters in Bologna. “They speak also to entrepreneurs, managers and businesses, who in these years have made profits like never before.” The strike forced ITA airlines to cancel dozens of domestic and international flights, and hit schools, hospitals and local transport. Unions called for an eight-hour strike but Transport Minister Matteo Salvini imposed an injunction limiting the strike in the transport sector to four hours. It was the first general strike since last November. Unions faced possible sanctions for involving the health care and justice sectors, which have staged strikes recently. The Italian railway, which also has been the target of recent labor actions, was exempted. Italy’s health care sector has been suffering staffing shortages that has forced the hiring of nurses from abroad, with care in the poorer south particularly lagging that in the more prosperous north. “There are many people who go abroad because the salaries are too low,’’ said Anna Salsa, a member of the UIL health care union, at the demonstration in Rome. “We are forced to do double shifts to give the minimal levels of essential care.” Protesters also cited persistent increases in the cost of basic necessities. Despite indications that inflation is cooling, the Codacons consumer protection lobby said that grocery costs for a family of four have risen by 238 euro ($251) a year in 2024 compared with last year, forcing many families to reduce their consumption. While starting salaries in Italy are aligned with the rest of Europe, pay increases do not keep pace, said Maurizio Del Conte, a labor law expert at Milan’s Bocconi University. As a result, Italy’s gross median salary of 35,000 euros (nearly $37,000) a year is at the low end of European averages, well behind its G7 partners in France and Germany. He noted that such protests are historically more influential when engaging center-left governments, which are friendly to unions, rather than conservative governments, such as Meloni's far-right-led government. \_\_\_ Paolo Santalucia contributed from Rome.