Israel fears that Iran plans to target Israelis during the Olympics

Israel fears that Iran plans to target Israelis during the Olympic Games in Paris. Israel ‘s Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, alerted the French foreign ministry to a potential terror threat in a diplomatic note today and thanked the French government for providing extra security to protect Israeli athletes and tourists. ‘We have intelligence indicating that Iranian operatives and other terrorist groups are planning to target members of the Israeli delegation and Israeli tourists,’ Katz said in his warning, according to Israeli media. It comes as French cops have detained an alleged jihadist over suspicions of a terror plot targeting the Olympics.

The 18-year-old man from Gironde, a region in southwest France, was arrested this morning, with police reportedly finding evidence for him believing jihadist ideology, according to local media. Investigators confirmed to local media that the was connected to another man, also 18, who was taken into custody on Tuesday. The two allegedly communicated on an encrypted messaging service, where they reportedly wrote that they wanted to commit a ‘violent action’ against the Olympics soon. It follows an interview of Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, who told French broadcaster BFMTV on Wednesday that the first man, who is also from Gironde, was arrested on suspicion of ‘planning a violent action against the Olympic Games’.

Police arrested the 18-year-old man on Tuesday on accusations that he was planning to target the ‘organization of the Games,’ Darmanin said. He did not give details on the suspect’s potential targets or whether they were in Paris or in other French cities hosting Olympic events that run through Aug. 11. ‘We are still working on this case … (we) avoid giving details … but we think there is a link,’ Darmanin said. ‘It’s been established that this person wanted to attack the Olympic Games.’ French authorities have foiled several plots to disrupt the 2024 Olympics , including arresting a Russian man in one of them, officials said on Wednesday, just days before the opening ceremony of the Summer Games in Paris on Friday.

France has been on high alert over the past few weeks as preparations to host the Olympics hit the final stretch. The Games officially kick off with a lavish and high-security opening ceremony on the River Seine on Friday. Paris prosecutors said on Wednesday that they had arrested a 40-year-old Russian man Tuesday at his Paris apartment on suspicion of planning to ‘destabilize the Olympic Games.’ He was charged with ‘conducting intelligence work on behest of a foreign power’ with an aim to ‘provoke hostilities in France,’ crimes punishable with 30-year sentence in France, according to a statement from the Paris prosecutor’s office. During an official search of the suspect’s home in Paris, police agents found items that ‘raised fears of his intention to organize events likely to lead to destabilization of the Olympic Games,’ prosecutors said.

The Russian Embassy in Paris said it had not received any notification from French authorities about the arrest and has asked French officials for an explanation after seeing reports about it. It did not comment further. The Games’ organizers are facing major security challenges, including cyberattack concerns, amid high international tensions because of Russia’s war in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza. In his diplomatic note, Israeli official Katz (pictured) commended France for its support for Israel’s participation in the Games. ‘I want to convey my profound gratitude for the extraordinary security measures the French government has implemented to safeguard the Israeli delegation and tourists.

‘This stands as a clear testament to President Macron and the French government’s resolve to confront those hostile elements seeking to undermine the legitimacy of Israel’s Olympic participation.’ It comes after Iran condemned the ‘reception and protection’ of Israeli athletes at the Olympic games in Paris on Tuesday, demanding their exclusion over Israel’s handling of the Gaza war. Israel’s delegation, which headed to France on Monday ahead of Friday’s opening ceremony, is being tightly protected in the French capital amid growing international outrage over the high civilian casualty toll and unfolding humanitarian crisis in Gaza. ‘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 organizers to ban Israel. The Gaza war was triggered by the October 7 attacks on Israel by Iran-backed militant group Hamas, which led to the deaths of 1,197 people in Israel, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures. Israel’s retaliatory offensive against the militants has killed at least 39,090 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-ruled territory’s health ministry. Iran does not recognize Israel and prohibits all contact between Iranian and Israeli athletes. The Olympics also face other threats via elaborate disinformation campaigns orchestrated out of Russia, which also targeted France’s recent elections, according to French officials and cybersecurity experts in Europe and the United States.

‘We have a list of threats on which we are particularly focused, including the cyberthreat,’ Sonia Fibleuil, a National Police spokesperson, told The Associated Press. Such threats ‘can consist of fake news and disinformation or online campaigns to amplify a piece of news with bots and mass circulate it,’ Fibleuil said. In an example this week, French intelligence found that a video on social media supposedly showing a Hamas threat against the Olympics was fake, generated by AI and appeared to have links to Russia, according to a French security official. The official was not authorized to be publicly named discussing intelligence matters. A Hamas official on Telegram also denied the militant group was behind the video.

Paris has deployed 35,000 police officers each day for the Olympics, with a peak of 45,000 for the opening ceremony. In addition, 10,000 soldiers are taking part in security operations in the Paris region. A 10,000-strong military force is patrolling streets and sites in the Paris region and carrying out other security missions. France also is getting help from more than 40 countries that together have sent at least 1,900 police reinforcements.

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