French police reacted angrily and with great criticism, after some of them appeared in a video as they were kneeling high school students in what appeared to be the "execution by firing squad".

The video has been widely circulated over the past few hours, with dozens of students standing near a high school in a humiliating and unethical way.

The video monitors about 150 students kneeling with their hands above their heads in a scene that suggests prisoners of war or the moment before execution by firing squad.

The police have faced a great deal of vehement criticism, all of which have agreed that the security elements deal with the students as unacceptable and alien to French society.

The French government today defended the harsh security tactics used by riot police when scores of high school students were forced to kneel and put their hands behind their heads or shackle some after violent protests in Val Foure, a poor suburb of Monte la Goli at a distance 60 kilometers west of Paris.

"Over the past few days, about 100 masked youths with batons and Molotov cocktails have joined the students who have insisted on the clash with the police," Interior Minister Christoph Castanier told a news conference.

Protesters set fire to roadblocks, threw motorists with shells and looted houses in the area around the schools, he said.

"This is the context in which the security forces intervened," he said.

Social media users said forcing students to stand and face the wall was more like a mass execution.

"Can anyone tell me if he has seen such a thing in the last 50 years?" A Twitter user said.

Education Minister Jean-Michel Blancre described the images as "shocking," but said the violence, which has been shaking France for weeks, justifies strict security.

France has been witnessing student demonstrations in a number of educational institutions in protest against the high cost of living and rents, following protests by the owners of the "yellow jackets", which led to the arrest of about 700 students throughout France.

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced today an extraordinary mobilization in the security forces to deal with possible acts of sabotage and violence that could erupt during the "yellow jackets" protests, adding that 89,000 police and armored vehicles have not been used since the riots in the suburbs of Paris in 2005.

Meanwhile, the French government is preparing for the worst, tomorrow, against the backdrop of three weeks of mobilization to protest against the increase in fees on fuel.

French President Emmanuel Macaron has preferred to remain silent throughout the week, concentrating his efforts at the Elysee Palace on finding a way out of a crisis that threatens his presidency.

In recent days, calls have been made for the French president to explain his position to the French. The protesters have been issued from "yellow jackets" as well as from dissidents, and sometimes even vice-presidents.

But the president is "clearly aware of the circumstances and the situation," said National Assembly President Richard Ferran. "He does not want to pour oil on the fire, so he does not intend to speak before Saturday."