At a time when the reality of the genocide had become impossible to deny - after top Holocaust Studies academics and the UN Independent Commission recognised it, and a number of Israeli Jewish public figures echoed the international call for sanctions - the French media saturated their coverage with known Israeli propagandists and government officials.

They platformed genocide denialists such as Caroline Fourest and Georges Bensoussan, giving them lengthy, unchallenged airtime.

Fourest, a ubiquitous media presence despite her record of disinformation, often targeting Muslims and defending Israel, denied Israel’s humanitarian blockade and claimed that Hamas was hijacking food and aid. She also insisted that Palestinian deaths were overestimated and should be “divided by at least five and even 10”, ignoring that these figures are widely considered a dramatic undercount.

Yet she and others were still given free rein to repeat Israel’s proven lies, including fabricated stories of decapitated babies. Recent studies show that France’s reporting largely consisted of quoting Netanyahu or the Israeli military without critical distance, parroting the official talking points of the Israeli government and its armed forces. These statements were often the sole sources for news segments, justified by appeals to “journalistic objectivity”.