French president accuses pro-Hamas group of bing directly implicated in murder of teacher Samuel Paty

French President Emmanuel Macron has accused the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) accused of being “directly implicated” in the murder of teacher Samuel Paty.

The group denied the claim made by the French president, saying in a media statement: “The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas confirms that the French-based Sheikh Yassin group has no organizational relationship with the movement.”

Hamas condemned “the biased media attempts that seek to engage the name of the movement in an internal battle in which we are not a party, and our fight only against the Zionist occupation for freedom and independence.”

Macron had vowed to “intensify action” against what he called “radical Islam” after the murder of teacher Samuel Paty.

In particular, he announced the dissolution of the “Sheikh Ahmed Yassin” group, which he claimed was loyal to Hamas and “directly involved” in the attack.

“Similar decisions against associations and groups of individuals will be issued in the coming days and weeks,” he told reporters from Bobigny, a northeastern suburb of Paris,

Worshippers attending a mosque that the French authorities decided to close after the recent Paris attack said they were “being punished”.

Some 1,300 worshippers are attending the mosque and will be closed for “six months” as of Wednesday evening, according to a decree issued by the administrative authorities of the Seine-Saint-Denis region.

E.M