PARIS: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was on Tuesday weighing a Palest­inian call for Israeli athletes to be barred from the Games over the military campaign in Gaza, three days before the Opening Ceremony in Paris.

As the Israeli Olympic team settled into the Athletes’ Village, the IOC was studying a letter sent by the Palestine Olympic Committee to President Thomas Bach asking him to ban the Israelis, citing the bombings of the besieged Gaza Strip as a breach of the Olympic truce.

The letter sent on Monday “emphasised that Palestinian athletes, particularly those in Gaza, are denied safe passage and have suffered significantly due to the ongoing conflict”.

It said, “Approximately 400 Palestinian athletes have been killed, and the destruction of sports facilities exacerbates the plight of athletes who are already under severe restrictions”.

The IOC is likely to reject the Palestinian call but it highlights how the rising death toll and growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza is impacting the Paris Games.

Fighting broke out after the October 7 attack on southern Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,194 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 37,124 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the territory’s health ministry.

France’s foreign minister has already had to intervene to stress that Israeli athletes are welcome at the Games after far-left French politicians called for them to be barred over the Gaza offensive.

Earlier on Tuesday, Iran condemned the “reception and protection” of Israeli athletes at the Olympic games, demanding their exclusion over Israel’s handling of Gaza.

Israel’s delegation, which headed to France on Monday ahead of Friday’s opening ceremony, is being tightly protected in the French capital.

“Announcing the reception and protection of the apartheid terrorist Zionist regime’s delegation means giving legitimacy to the child killers,” Iran’s foreign ministry said in a post on X.

“They do not deserve to be present at the Paris Olympics because of the war against the innocent people of Gaza,” it added, calling on organisers to ban Israel.

Iran does not recognise Israel and prohibits all contact between Iranian and Israeli athletes.

Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2024