France has opened an investigation into death threats against three Israeli athletes as well as possible anti-Semitic hate crimes during a football match, AFP reports according to the Paris prosecutor’s office.
The death threats were reported by Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin and the investigation will be led by the national anti-online hate body, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
Israel warned France about cyber harassment of its athletes and leaks of personal data that it blamed on Iran-backed groups. Personal details of Israeli athletes’ were leaked on social media including blood test results and login credentials.
Prosecutors said they were probing possible anti-Semitic hate crimes during an Israel-Paraguay football match Saturday in Paris which featured chants and banners about Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.
The match at the Paris Saint Germain stadium saw fans “dressed in black, masked and carrying Palestinian flags unfurl a banner saying ‘Genocide Olympics’” and one of them “made gestures of an anti-Semitic nature”, a separate statement said.