23 January – A woman is killed while her husband and their daughter, all FNSEA members, are injured after a car crashes into a roadblock in Pamiers at the 2024 French farmers' protests.[4]
28 January – Protesters advocating for sustainable food throw soup at the Mona Lisa in the Louvre. The painting is protected by bulletproof glass and is undamaged.[6]
24 April – The union representing air traffic controllers in France cancels a planned 24-hour strike, although a majority of flights had already been cancelled.[12]
May 13–28 – 2024 New Caledonia unrest – A state of emergency is declared in New Caledonia after riots break out amid debate over a proposed electoral reform in the territory. Six people, including a police officer are killed, and at least 60 others are injured.[15][16][17]
May 14 –
Two prison officers are killed in an attack on a van carrying inmate Mohamed Amra near Rouen that results in his escape.[18]
May 17 – An armed man is shot dead by police in Rouen after he threatens to attack a synagogue.[20]
May 18 – The exclusive Harry Winston boutique in Paris is targeted in an armed robbery that results in the loss of “several million euros’” worth of items.[21]
3 June – A Russian-Ukrainian national is arrested north of Paris and subsequently charged with plotting a bomb attack and other terrorism offences.[25]
Commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings.[27]
The Investigative Committee of Russia announces the arrest of a French national in Moscow on suspicion of failing to register with authorities as a foreign agent and collecting information on the Russian military.[28]
Two teenagers are charged with the gang rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl in Courbevoie, in an attack suspected to have been motivated by anti-Semitism.[44]
One person is killed by police after stabbing two people with a screwdriver in Aubervilliers.[45]
23 June – 2024 New Caledonia unrest: Independence leader Christian Tein and seven other activists are flown to France for pre-trial detention after being arrested for inciting violence and riots in New Caledonia.[47]
26 June – The French government orders the dissolution of the far-right Groupe Union Défense and several other far-right and Islamic extremist groups, citing risks of violence.[48]
29 June – One person is killed and five others are injured following a shooting at a wedding hall in Thionville.[49]
Thousands of left-wing protesters gather in cities across France to protest the National Rally's lead in election polls, while showing support for the New Popular Front.[50]
No party wins a majority in the National Assembly, with the left-wing New Popular Front gaining a plurality of seats and the far-right National Rally coming in third place.[53]
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announces that he will resign effective July 8.[54] However, his resignation is rejected on that day by President Macron, who asks him to remain in office "for the time being".[55]
11 July – A fire damages the spire of the 11th-century Rouen Cathedral during restoration. No further damage or injuries are reported.[56]
13 July – Three people are killed and four injured after a mass shooting at a birthday party in Espinasse-Vozelle. The perpetrator commits suicide.[58]
15 July – A soldier is injured in a knife attack while on patrol at the Gare de l'Est station in Paris. The perpetrator is arrested.[59]
16 July – President Macron approves the resignation of Prime Minister Attal and his cabinet, but maintains Attal as head of a transitional caretaker government.[60]
17 July – An 18-year old man is arrested in Bas-Rhin on suspicion of plotting attacks inspired by far-right extremism during the Paris Olympics.[61]
18 July:
Seven people are killed in a suspected arson attack on an apartment in Nice.[62]
A police officer is injured in a knife attack along the Champs-Elysees in Paris. The assailant is shot dead.[63]
La France Insoumise introduces legislation to reverse pension changes and revert the legal retirement age to 62 years, with the National Rally offering support for the advancement of the legislation.[65]
A Russian national is arrested on suspicion of plotting acts of "destabilisation" during the Paris Olympics.[66]
French police arrest a far-left extremist who may have been behind an attack on the long-distance train network ahead of the opening of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.[71]
French police report multiple sabotage acts targeting telecommunications operators across six areas of the country, affecting 11,000 clients. The incidents are treated as vandalism. No one has been arrested and no group has claimed responsibility.[72]
Olympic organisers cancel the second session of triathlon training due to water quality concerns in the Seine.[73]
21 August – A man is shot and injured by police after setting fire to the town hall of Angoulême.[82]
24 August –
Two cars explode in an arson attack on a synagogue in La Grande-Motte, injuring a police officer. A 33-year old Algerian suspect who was seen wrapped in a Palestinian flag following the attack is injured after resisting arrest in Nîmes.[83][84]
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov is arrested at Paris–Le Bourget Airport.[85] On 28 August 28, prosecutors formally indict him with complicity in distribution of child exploitation media and drug trafficking and ban him from leaving France.[86]
27 August –
The New Popular Front shuts down future talks with President Macron to break political deadlock after Macron refuses to implement a leftist-led coalition government despite the NFP receiving the most votes and calls for nationwide protests against Macron's "parody of democracy".[87]
3 September – A boat carrying migrants breaks apart in the English Channel off the coast of Le Portel, killing at least 12 passengers. Sixty-five others are rescued.[91]
7 September – Nationwide protests against President Macron's appointment of Michel Barnier as the prime minister break out in 130 cities and towns nationwide, with the New Popular Front claiming that Macron stole the June and July parliamentary election.[93]
10 September – Four climbers from Italy and South Korea are found dead on the French side of Mont Blanc after being reported missing on 7 September.[94]
15 September – A boat carrying migrants breaks apart in the English Channel off the coast of Ambleteuse, killing at least eight passengers. Fifty-one others are rescued.[95]
16–17 September – At least seven people, including six police officers, are injured during protests against high living costs in Martinique.[96]
18–19 September – Two people are killed in an operation by security forces against pro-independence activists in Saint-Louis, New Caledonia.[97]
25 September – The Barnier government expresses willingness to work with the National Rally's proposals to toughen immigration and crime laws following the murder of a 19-year-old woman in Paris by a Moroccan national.[101]
October
1 October –
Prime Minister Barnier announces a one-year postponement of provincial elections in New Caledonia that were previously scheduled in December 2024.[102]
Exiled Azerbaijani opposition activist Vidadi Isgandarli dies from wounds sustained in an attack inside his apartment in Mulhouse on 29 September.[103]
3 October – Peter Cherif, an associate of the perpetrators of the Charlie Hebdo shooting in 2015, is sentenced to life imprisonment on terrorism charges.[104]
4 October – The Court of Justice of the European Union overturns decrees by the French government banning manufacturers of plant-based meats from labeling their products as meat products, citing the lack of legal definitions.[105]
7 October – Nearly a dozen police officers and several demonstrators are injured in renewed protests in Fort-de-France, Martinique.[106]
8 October –
Three people are arrested in the Toulouse area on suspicion of plotting terrorist attacks.[107]
The Barnier government survives a no-confidence motion filed by the New Popular Front.[108]
One person is killed during protests in Martinique.[110]
10 October – Protesters occupy the tarmac of Martinique Aimé Césaire International Airport overnight and try to enter the terminal, disrupting several flights and trapping hundreds of passengers.[111] Authorities also declare a ban on protests in the territory.[112]
12 October – A Tesla car crashes into a road sign and catches fire near Niort, killing all four people on board.[113]
17 October – France becomes the first European Union member state to grant asylum to military deserters without travel documents or foreign passports after it grants visas to six Russian soldiers seeking to avoid service in Ukraine.[115]
21 October – A nationwide manhunt is launched for the parents of a 17-day-old premature infant boy abducted from a hospital in Seine-Saint-Denis.[116] The infant is found in Amsterdam, where his parents are also arrested.[117]
25 October – The entirety of Guadeloupe loses electricity after striking workers shut down the main Électricité de France station in the territory.[118]
November
1 November – Five people are injured in a shooting at a restaurant in Poitiers, sparking a mass brawl involving up to 600 people.[119]
5 November – A court in Lille convicts 18 people, mostly from Iraq, for their role in smuggling migrants across the English Channel to the United Kingdom and sentences them to up to 15 years' imprisonment.[121]
28 November – Authorities announce the arrest of 26 people and the seizure of 11 million euros in assets as part of an eight-month operation against a human trafficking network sending migrants from South Asia.[123]
1 December – A bus crashes into a cliff near Porte-Puymorens, killing two people and injuring 33 others.[125]
4 December – Michel Barnier becomes the first prime minister of France to be removed in a no-confidence vote since 1962, following a motion filed by far-left MPs and supported by the National Rally.[126]
18 December – The Court of Cassation upholds the conviction of former president Nicolas Sarkozy for corruption and influence peddling after attempting to bribe a magistrate during a separate legal case against him.[133]
19 December – Mazan rapes: Dominique Pelicot and 50 others are convicted of raping Pelicot's then wife, Gisèle Pelicot. Dominique is sentenced to the maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment.[134]
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