France has been Europe’s most outspoken supporter of Palestinian claims in recent months. In November, the French Parliament voted to recognize the state of Palestine. In December, Israel’s Foreign Ministry summoned the French ambassador, Patrick Maisonnave, to a dressing down after France supported a Palestinian resolution in the U.N. Security Council that would set a deadline for the end of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories. The resolution failed, but France’s support is remembered fondly.

Mukhaimar Abusaada, a political scientist at Gaza City’s Al-Azhar University, said, “We hold France on higher ground.”