Almost 100,000 French police and soldiers will be on hand for France's New Year's Eve celebrations, as the country's authorities have implemented stricter security measures in response to an increased terrorist threat.
Paris alone will be assigned 6,000 security forces to secure the festivities. Far over a million revelers are expected to flock to the Champs-Elysées and the Eiffel Tower on Sunday night and French authorities have prepared extensively to ensure that the densely packed crowds of French citizens and tourists are kept safe in the face of the mounting threat of Islamist or pro-Hamas terrorists.
Additionally, French police and military will be acting on high alert with the expectation that even more people will be celebrating in the streets of Paris this particular New Year's Eve to mark 2024 as the year of the Paris Olympics and Paralympics.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin posted security plans on social media saying (translated), “For the night of December 31, an exceptional system will be put in place, including 90,000 police officers and gendarmes, 35,000 firefighters and 5,000 Sentinel soldiers. Thank you to them for their mobilization and for this night of work far from their families.”
The man was on France’s terrorism watch list and had served four years in prison for plotting a terror attack. In recent weeks, he had declared his support for Hamas’ actions in the Gaza war on X. After his arrest he told the police his actions were in retaliation for casualties sustained by Islamists in the aftermath of the October 7 attack on Israel.
Since the attack by Hamas, France has experienced a spike in violence from Islamists and Hamas supporters as has much of Western Europe. Germany is bracing itself for the potential of Islamic terror attacks and has also had to initiate similarly intensified security measures to protect citizens ringing in the new year.
All in all the nationwide security deployments will include 90,000 police and gendarmes, 35,000 firefighters, 5000 soldiers from the anti-terror military contingent Operation Sentinelle, and mobile units, Darmanin announced.
Paris police chief Laurent Nuñez warned that no political demonstrations will be allowed during the celebrations and that French authorities will be using drones as part of a highly intricate surveillance initiative to aid boots on the ground. Nuñez added that French intelligence agencies are on high alert.
In response to a social media post asking the Paris chief of police to stop an already planned pro-Hamas protest planned for New Year’s Eve at the Champs-Elysées, Nuñez posted, “As recalled by @GDarmanin this morning, protest demonstrations are already prohibited on #ChampsÉlysées within the framework of the decree creating a protection perimeter that I have taken for the festivities of #31décembre .I will ensure the strict application of this ban.”