France, March 20 -- Racist, xenophobic and religion-based hate offences surged 32 percent in France last year, according to a report released on Wednesday.

Police forces said they recorded 8,500 crimes and misdemeanours targeting the victim's ethnicity, nationality, race or religion.

SSMSI, the French Interior Ministry's statistics service, highlighted a marked rise towards the end of the year - coinciding with the period following Hamas's attack on 7 October on Israel and the retaliatory campaign in Gaza.

"The increase can be seen from October, with a level of offences holding at the same high level in November before falling back in December," the report said.

France's Representative Council of Jewish Institutions(CRIF) said in Janu...