Mathieu Lefèvre, an MP from Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance party, remained silent for a moment, just long enough for the cameras to move into position, in the hallways of the Assemblée Nationale. On Tuesday, November 14, Lefèvre, who is the president of the France-Israel Friendship Group, organized a screening of a film showing the massacres committed by Hamas in Israel on October 7. Watching footage from this "attack on all humanity" was a "difficult moment," he said. "I believe that those who have seen this video will not be able to sleep peacefully for a long time," he added.

Several dozen MPs attended the screening behind closed doors, leaving their phones at the door. No one left the room during the screening, even though some had to "lower their eyes" at times. The 47-minute film, edited by the Israeli authorities from images of October 7 − taken from surveillance cameras, the victims' or their executioners' cell phones, and body cameras found on Hamas soldiers − shows "a glimpse of what happened that day" in the kibbutzim and at a music festival just east of the Gaza Strip: civilians hunted down and murdered, and the jubilation of the assailants. The video was initially shown to members of Israel's Knesset, and it has also been viewed by the United Nations and members of the international press.

Lefèvre, who proclaims "unconditional support" for Israel, said this was neither a "political operation" nor a "communications campaign," but a means of resisting being "submerged" by news and therefore fighting against "oblivion." He described it as a "necessary moment in the face of all kinds of relativism," in a "context where some of our colleagues think it is useful to question the veracity of facts".

Following in his footsteps, a dozen MPs spoke to the press on Tuesday evening after watching the film, in a serious and charged atmosphere. Les Républicains (LR) MP Meyer Habib, who is close to Benjamin Netanyahu, tearfully denounced the crimes of "those barbarians." Speaking to the cameras, he said, "I don't want them to see my tears. I want everyone to understand that Israel has the right to defend itself."

Conversely, radical left La France Insoumise (LFI) MP Aymeric Caron believes the images have taught him "nothing": "The Assemblée has been subjected to a propaganda operation," he said, adding, "We should also see images from Gaza" in order to have a "balanced view of things."

There was also debate outside the Assemblée over the screening of the film. "Is this the right time to broadcast these images, when the war is not over? Isn't it counter-productive?" asked Stéphanie Courouble Share, an associate researcher at the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy in New York. While she understands Lefèvre's position, she expressed concerns about "unhealthy voyeurism." In an opinion piece published in Le Monde on Tuesday, the historian Christian Delage also questioned this approach, which he said was "carried out without an analytical framework" that could have made the experience "a work of knowledge and memory." Otherwise, he warned, "the only thing left will be the shock effect."

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