French police have opened an investigation into death threats received by three Israeli athletes at the Paris Olympic Games, as well as possible antisemitic hate crimes during a football match, the Paris’ prosecutors office said.
The death threats were reported by interior minister Gérald Darmanin and the investigation will be led by the national anti-online hate body.
Last week, Israel’s foreign minister warned his French counterpart of an alleged Iranian-backed plot to target Israeli athletes and tourists during the Paris Olympic Games.
The Iranian mission to the UN said in a statement on Thursday: “Terrorist acts have no place in the principles of resistance groups; lies and deceit cannot switch the roles of the plaintiff and the accused.”
Israeli athletes at the Games are being escorted to and from events by elite tactical units and given 24-hour protection throughout the Olympics, according to officials. Israel’s internal security service, Shin Bet, is helping with security.
Elsewhere prosecutors said they were probing possible antisemitic hate crimes during an Israel-Paraguay football match on Saturday in Paris, which featured chants and banners about the Gaza war.
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 antisemitic nature”, a separate statement said.
The Paris Olympics organisers lodged a complaint with police, the prosecutors’ statement said.
An AFP reporter at the stadium said about 50 so-called “ultra” fans in the crowd sang chants in French against Israel and about the Gaza war. The chants, in French, included “Israel Killer” and “Israel is killing Palestine’s children”.
The Israeli anthem was booed by part of the crowd. Some Israeli fans in the stadium chanted back “Free the hostages”.
The fans could be charged with aggravated incitement to racial hatred, the statement from the prosecutor’s office said.
Anti-cybercrime officers are also investigating the release of athletes’ personal data on social networks on Friday and seeking to have it removed, prosecutors said in a statement.
Personal details of Israeli athletes’ were leaked on social media including blood test results and login credentials.
Israel on Thursday warned France about cyber harassment of its athletes and leaks of personal data that it blamed on Iran-backed groups.
Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report
