The opening ceremony for the Paris Olympic Games, scheduled for the evening of Friday, July 26, on the River Seine, has not yet taken place, yet the war in Gaza has already crept into the tournament. "Israeli athletes are welcome," said President Emmanuel Macron on France 2 and Radio France on Tuesday evening, "they must be able to compete under their colors."

The president was seeking to counter calls from France, Palestine and even Iran against the participation of these athletes in the Games, due to the ongoing carnage in Gaza. Over 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive targeting the enclave, launched in October 2023, following the Hamas attack in southern Israel, which left 1,200 dead. "I've always said: It's the International Olympic Committee [IOC] that will decide, and we don't play politics with the Games," said Macron, condemning, with "the utmost firmness, all those who, in any way, put these athletes at risk."

The French president's intention was to respond to recent remarks made by officials from the radical left La France Insoumise party. "Israeli athletes are not welcome at the Paris Olympics," said MP Thomas Portes, at a pro-Palestinian rally in the capital on Saturday.

The Palestine Olympic Committee (POC) also requested the exclusion of Israeli athletes, claiming that Israel had violated the Olympic truce proclaimed by the IOC, after carrying out "bombings in Gaza, resulting in civilian casualties." The Palestinian request, which states that some 400 Gazan athletes have perished in nine months of war, was sent on Monday to IOC President Thomas Bach, as well as to Gianni Infantino, his counterpart at the International Football Federation (FIFA).

The IOC and FIFA "have previously acted decisively against breaches of the Olympic Truce," the letter states, highlighting "the International Olympic Committee's suspension of Russian teams in response to their invasion of Ukraine." Barely a handful of Russian and Belarussian athletes are allowed to take part in the events, under a neutral banner, as the fighting is bogged down on Ukrainian territory, some 30 months after the invasion undertaken by Vladimir Putin. The POC, represented by eight athletes in Paris, is calling for the IOC to "apply the same standard to Israel and suspend teams from the Olympic Games."

On Tuesday, Iran, a supporter of Hamas and sworn enemy of Israel, followed suit. Israeli athletes "do not deserve to be present at the Paris Olympics because of the war against the innocent people of Gaza," tweeted the Iranian Foreign Affairs Ministry. The Islamic Republic does not recognize the state of Israel and bans all contact between Iranian and Israeli athletes in all disciplines.

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