French lawmakers urge Olympic Committee to sanction 'Israel'
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A group of twenty-six French lawmakers has appealed to the International Olympic Committee, urging the prevention of "Israel's" participation in the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris.
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IOC President Thomas Bach speaks during an IOC executive board meeting on March 27, 2023. (AFP/Getty Images)
Twenty-six French parliamentarians have called on the International Olympic Committee to ban "Israel" from participating in the forthcoming Olympic Games in Paris.
In a communication addressed to Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee, the legislators denounced "Israel" for "unprecedented war crimes" perpetrated against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Citing UN statistics from November 2023, the lawmakers stated that approximately 10,000 civilians, including 560 children, lost their lives in the two-year war in Ukraine. In contrast, within four months of Israeli aggression on Gaza, the death toll has surged to at least 29,692 Palestinians killed, while the number of wounded has risen to 69,879.
The French lawmakers called for Israeli athletes to participate neutrally, akin to Russian and Belarusian athletes, in the 2024 Paris Olympics. They emphasized that these restrictions should remain in place until a lasting ceasefire is declared in Gaza.
The International Olympic Committee had previously announced that athletes from Russia and Belarus could compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics as independent and neutral athletes.
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