Israel's male flagbearer at Paris Olympics signs bombs targeting civilians in Gaza

By Can Erozden

Peter Paltchik, Israel's male flagbearer at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, was found to have signed bombs targeting civilians in Gaza.

"Andi Murez and Peter Paltchik are the flag bearers of Team ISR at Paris 2024," Team Israel said on X on July 5.

Judoka Paltchik, 32, previously said "From me to you with pleasure" in a social media post, referring to the bunch of Israeli bombs that hit Gaza since October.

Ukrainian-born Israeli athlete Paltchik is a former European champion at Prague 2020, and an Olympic bronze medalist at Tokyo 2020, which was held in 2021 summer because of the coronavirus pandemic.

In 2021, he was ranked world No. 1 in men's judo.

The Paris Olympics will start on Friday with an exceptional opening ceremony across the River Seine.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

Nearly 39,100 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 90,000 injured, according to local health authorities.

Over nine months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.