Israel confirms attendance at opening of Paris Olympics
Sports
In a first for the Olympics, the opening ceremony will go ahead outside the stadium
Tel Aviv (AFP) – Israel's athletes will join the 2024 Olympics opening ceremony in Paris despite security concerns, the country's Games boss told AFP on Thursday.
In a first for the Olympics, the opening ceremony will go ahead outside the stadium with organisers planning a parade along the river Seine on July 26.
French media has quoted security experts expressing concern that the ceremony could be disrupted, fears heightened by the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
"Israel will be in the opening ceremony," Israel's Olympic Committee head, Yael Arad, told AFP during an interview in Tel Aviv. "I'm sure they're going to do everything they can to make this event safe."
The former judoka, who won a silver medal at the Barcelona Games in 1992, said her athletes would stay in the Olympic Village like all the other teams.
And she warned that any discrimination against Israeli athletes during events would not be tolerated. Athletes from Muslim countries, particularly Iran, have frequently refused to compete against Israelis.
The war in Gaza has provoked mass protests around the world, not least in Paris where thousands have demonstrated against the conflict.
Fighting has ravaged the Palestinian territory since Hamas fighters launched an attack in southern Israel that resulted in the death of about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel has responded with a relentless bombardment and a ground offensive, killing at least 24,620 Palestinians, around 70 percent of them women, children and adolescents, according to Gaza health ministry figures.
