The first French repatriated from Israel since the outbreak of the Hamas terrorist offensive expressed Thursday evening their “relief” to be back in Paris, but also a feeling of “horror” in the face of a “disaster” and a spike of “apprehension”.
“It’s a relief to return, but when we see the rise in anti-Semitic acts in France, we have a little apprehension,” Olivia, four months pregnant, told the press as she exited the plane. landed shortly after 9:00 p.m. at Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle airport. “In Israel, we had the army to protect us, I hope we can feel safe” in France, added the young mother, accompanied by two young children.
At terminal 2E, faces were marked but as soon as they reunited with the families, a smile appeared. “I will be able to return to a more or less normal life and go out,” rejoices Yaël, 17 years old. “It’s the relief of no longer feeling at war,” explains the high school student, cut off in her declaration by the hugs of her big brother who came to pick her up at the airport.
On a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Brigitte was “never afraid” but felt “sadness”. “It’s hard, I lost a friend in this war,” confides a student who was to do a one-year exchange in Israel.
Other flights Friday
This first Air France “special flight”, which took off from Tel Aviv on Thursday afternoon, carried 377 French passengers, in particular elderly or “vulnerable” people. People with disabilities or those with a particular medical emergency were given priority on the flight.
The passengers were welcomed as they exited the plane by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, and the Minister of Transport, Clément Beaune.
For the head of French diplomacy, “it was important that we demonstrate our solidarity with our compatriots in the ordeal”. Catherine Colonna said other flights were planned for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The minister also declared to the press that she would go to Israel on Sunday at the request of President Emmanuel Macron.
Nicole Ifargan, who was passing through Tel Aviv, considered it “shameful” that the repatriation took so long. “I thank France of course, but I think it’s normal that we take care of the French, I have the right to be outraged! », Estimates the retiree, originally from Lyon.
In the south of Israel, near the Gaza Strip, it is “a horror (…), a disaster, a calamity, there are no words,” she said, adding: “We , we are doing well.”
A father, who did not wish to give his name, said he was “glad to have returned because life will return to normal”. “It was time to go home but we are apprehensive, we are not at all calm (for when) we will bring our children back on the way to school,” added this trader, who was on vacation in Israel for the holidays Jewish Sukkot.
Asked about the bloody attack on Israel by Hamas, he said: “The Jewish people are like a reed, it bends in the wind but does not break.” And when a journalist asked him to identify himself, he responded jokingly: “Am Israel ‘haï”, meaning “Israel will live”.