PARIS: The International Olympic Committee has no plans to sanction Israel ahead of the Paris Olympics over its incursion in Gaza, a top official said on Friday.

Pierre-Olivier Beckers-Vieujant, the head of the IOC coordination committee for Paris 2024, said the conflict in Gaza and Russia’s war in Ukraine, for which Moscow was suspended by the IOC, were “different situations”.

“It’s out of question to imagine sanctions (on Israel) right now,” Beckers-Vieujant told reporters on Friday at the end of a three-day trip to the French capital.

“The reasons that led the IOC to sanction Russia initially and then the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) are very specific.” He said: “Russia and more recently the ROC undermined essential parts of the Olympic charter.

“That’s not the case for the Palestinian Olympic Committee, nor the Israeli Olympic Committee… which co-exist in peace together. It’s entirely clear that these are different situations.”

Four days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the IOC urged all international sports federations to exclude Russia and Belarusian athletes from their competitions and cancel forthcoming events in Russia.

IOC chief Thomas Bach said afterwards that Russia had violated the Olympic charter and the “Olympic truce” with its invasion, which took place just after the Winter Olympics in Beijing.

The IOC suspended the Russian Olympic Committee in October last year after it included regional sports organisations in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine as members.

Russian and Belarusian athletes are allowed to compete at this year’s Paris Games as neutrals, outside of team events, and as long as they have not actively support the war on Ukraine.

The IOC estimates that only eight athletes from Russia and three from Belarus have qualified as neutrals, although there is growing speculation that Russia will boycott the entire event.

Some Palestinian activists, as well as a collective of left-wing French MPs, have called for Israel to be sanctioned by the IOC over the war in Gaza, which was sparked by an attack by Hamas on Oct 7 that left around 1,140 people dead.

In response, Israel vowed to eliminate Hamas, launching an invasion that has killed at least 30,878 people, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

IOC chief Thomas Bach said this week that Israeli athletes would have special protection during the Paris Games.

“Measures will be taken,” he said in remarks reported by the Swiss newspaper 24 Heures. “The Israelis must feel at ease during the Games. Everyone must be treated equally, whether in the Olympic village or elsewhere.

“Everyone must be respected and have a respectful attitude.”

Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2024