More than 100,000 people turned out on Sunday to march against anti-Semitism in Paris, after days of bickering by political parties over who should take part and a surge in anti-Semitic incidents across France.

"Our order of the day today is... the total fight against anti-Semitism which is the opposite of the values of the republic," Senate speaker Gerard Larcher, who organised the demonstration with lower house speaker Yael Braun-Pivet, told broadcaster LCP before the marchers set off.

Tensions have been rising in the French capital – home to large Jewish and Muslim communities – in the wake of the October 7 attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel, followed by a month of Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

Paris's police headquarters said 105,000 people had joined the march, while interior ministry figures put the nationwide figure at 182,000.

Witnesses had earlier seen tens of thousands packed into the setting-off point at Invalides park.

More than 3,000 police and gendarmes were deployed to maintain security.

"We had grandparents who escaped being transported to the concentration camps, luckily they aren't here to see that (anti-Semitism) is back," said Laura Cohen, a marcher in her 30s.

"We shouldn't have to hide in 2023," she added, saying her family planned to remove their name from the intercom in their building and the mezuzah, a Jewish religious object, from their door.

Around 500,000 Jewish people live in France, making up Europe's largest community.

At the front of the march were Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, the two speakers and dignitaries including former presidents Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy, as well as religious leaders.

Earlier on Sunday, thousands of people gathered in major French cities including Lyon, Nice and Strasbourg behind the same slogan as the Paris march: "For the Republic, against anti-Semitism." (AFP)