France is heightening its security for New Year’s Eve due to ‘very high terrorist threat’ blamed on war in Gaza.
Some 90,000 police officers are set to be deployed, domestic intelligence chief Celine Berthon has said.
Of those, 6,000 will be in Paris, where French interior minister Gerald Darmanin said more than 1.5 million people are expected to attend celebrations on the Champs-Elysees.
Speaking at a press conference, Darmanin cited a ‘very high terrorist threat’ because, in part, of ‘what is happening in Israel and Palestine’.
Darmanin said that police for the first time will be able to use drones as part of security work, and that tens of thousands of firefighters and 5,000 soldiers would also be deployed.
Scene of the terrorist knife attack near the Bir Hakeim bridge and Quai de Grenelle earlier this month
New Year’s Eve celebrations in Paris will centre on the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, including DJ sets, fireworks and video projections on the Arc de Triomphe.
The security challenge ahead of the Olympics was highlighted when a tourist was killed in a knife attack near the Eiffel Tower on December 2.
Large-scale attacks – such as that at the Bataclan in 2015, when Islamic extremists invaded the music hall and shot up cafe terraces, killing 130 people – also loom in memory.
The knife attack raised concern in France and abroad about security for the Games that begin on July 26, in just under seven months.
But law enforcement officials appear eager to show off a security-ready Paris.