Protesters disrupt Israeli Philharmonic concert in Paris amid sustained anger over Gaza genocide

Protesters repeatedly disrupted a concert by the Israel Philharmonic orchestra in Paris, throwing flares that caused brief panic in the crowd and led musicians to leave the stage, amid sustained public anger over Israel's war on Gaza.

Police later arrested four people over the protest.

Pro-Palestinian activists also demonstrated outside Thursday night's performance at the Paris Philharmonic concert hall. 

A protester was heard shouting "Israel assassin" before red flares were set off twice.

Several audience members lunged at the protesters, with some throwing punches at them, video footage from the event showed.

The musicians eventually returned to the stage to finish the concert.

Four people were detained, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said in a post on X.

Nunez denounced the disruptions, saying "nothing can justify them".

Calls for a boycott of Israel, including in arts and culture, have grown since Israel launched its devastating war on Gaza in October 2023. The onslaught is increasingly being recognised as a genocide, including by UN experts and leading human rights groups, including Amnesty International.

Proponents of the boycott say that Israel has attempted to whitewash its image through arts, culture and sports while it continues to occupy the Palestinian territories and kills tens of thousands of Palestinians. They also highlight that Israel has killed and detained Palestinians from a range of fields, including the arts, sports and media.

Also on Thursday, pro-Palestine protesters gathered outside Premier League side Aston Villa's Europa League clash with Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv.

UK police classified Thursday's fixture as "high risk", citing the "violent clashes and hate crime offences" during a Europa League match in Amsterdam between Maccabi and local team Ajax last November, when fans of the club attacked and racially abused locals who were of Arab or Muslim background.