French police on Wednesday in their raid of an apartment in north Paris fired no less than 5,000 bullets, leading many in Israel to question the double standard of the West demanding Israel show "restraint" in the face of terror
Reportedly 110 officers took part in the raid on an apartment in the suburb of St. Denis, where the Islamic State (ISIS) mastermind of Saturday's lethal attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, was believed to be hiding out.
Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins revealed that police pumped 5,000 rounds of ammo into the apartment in a shootout with terrorists, and likewise chucked in grenades, leaving the building riddled with bullet holes and with windows blown out, reports Reuters.
Police arrested eight suspects in the raid, and at least two terrorists died - one female terrorist blew herself up with a suicide belt and another terrorist was killed in the onslaught.
A third suspect is thought to have died in the attack as well, and intelligence officials told Washington Post the third suspect was none other than Abaaoud. DNA tests are seeking to confirm his identity.
The lack of French "restraint" is all the more ironic given that demands from Paris on Israel even reached the point where French President Francois Hollande last month told Israel to continue allowing the Jordanian Waqf to ban Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism, so as to avoid "destabilization."
Following the raid Wednesday, Molins said, "a new team of terrorists has been neutralized." He added, "this commando could have become operational," indicating that the cell was planning new attacks.
Local residents spoke about the chaos that reigned as the hail of bullets began just before 4:30 a.m.
"We could see bullets flying and laser beams out of the window. There were explosions. You could feel the whole building shake," said Sabrine, who lived below the targeted apartment. She told Europe 1 radio that she heard people upstairs talking, running around and reloading their weapons.
In another move likely to raise question marks given the condemnation of Israel recently bolstering security measures to fight terror, France has given its security forces more or less a free hand thanks to the state of emergency declared after Friday night's attacks that left at least 129 murdered.
Police have conducted raids nationwide in France, arresting 60 suspects, putting 118 suspects under house arrest, and seizing 75 weapons in just three days.
France has also stepped up its massive bombing campaign targeting the ISIS stronghold of Raqqah in Syria, likely leaving many civilian casualties - again, an ironic point given the criticism of the IDF's strikes against the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza.