As Israel kicked off the Paris Olympics soccer tournament, some spectators were seen waving Palestinian flags while others chanted the Israeli national anthem ahead of Wednesday’s departure from the Parc des Princes.
And some shirts in the demonstration with “Free Palestine” written on the front. Nearly 1,000 French police officers were on duty on Wednesday as part of security measures during the Israel-Mali football match at the Paris Olympics, according to AFP.
The report also added that there were heated discussions between those flying the Palestinian flag and supporters of Israel. When Palestinian onlookers displayed yellow posters reading “Gaza: silence kills,” security guards told them to take them down.
The match involved the Israeli team as well as the Ukraine-Iraq match in Lyon, in the south-east of the country, which French security officials found to be a serious threat. “All tournaments have security plans, but it is true that these two games, especially the Parc des Princes, will have security, anti-terrorist zones,” French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said at BFM and RMC. . to start.
“This evening at the Parc des Princes, there will be a thousand policemen to make sure we are there for the game,” he added.
Israeli Prime Minister Isaac Herzog was at the game.
All Israeli athletes participating in the Paris Games, which begin on Friday, will benefit from 24-hour security by the elite French police, both in the Olympic city and after they had to leave the camp north of Paris. A French police official told AFP that police had anticipated unrest around the stadium on Wednesday and had estimated that people might shout abuse from the seats or wave drums and flags during the anthem.
The match starts at 9 pm (19:00 GMT). Europalestine, a French group sponsoring recent protests, told the Guardian newspaper that it was planning a peaceful protest in a stadium to protest the “massacre” in Gaza.
“We do not take (threats) lightly, we are on high alert and have informed all players about the situation,” Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said. “Our duty to protect our athletes, with the support of the French authorities, is paramount,” he added.
Darmanin later Wednesday described the game as “very sensitive” but added, “there are no security problems to our knowledge”. “Republicans will protect members of Israel.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach and French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday rejected Palestinian requests to exclude Israel from the Paris Games because of the war in Gaza.
The Palestinian Olympic Committee called for an Israeli ban in a letter to the IOC, saying the bombing of the Gaza Strip is a violation of the Olympic agreement. Hamas, Gaza’s health watchdog, said on Wednesday that Israeli and Palestinian forces have killed at least 39,145 people in more than nine months of fighting.
Israel’s attack on Gaza came after Hamas militants launched a shocking attack on October 7 that killed 1,197 people, most of them civilians, according to AFP figures from Israeli statistics.
