Palestinians are winners by just being at Paris Olympics, say athletes

The presence of Palestinian athletes at the Paris Olympic Games is already a major victory for the team amid the conflict in the Middle East, they said less than a week before the start of the Olympics.

The Palestinian team for the Games starting on Friday consists of six athletes who will be competing in boxing, judo, taekwondo, shooting and swimming, with slim hopes of a medal.

"Whether a medal or not, we already win," swimmer Yazan Al Bawwab said.

"The fact that we're here. The fact that people don't want us to be here, they don't want us to play sports. They don't want us to exist.

"People don't want Palestinians to exist. They look at the flag and they don't want it. So to be here is a win," said Al Bawwab, who will be the team's flag bearer during the opening ceremony.

About 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 were seized and taken as hostages to Gaza in an attack on southern Israel led by the Palestinian militant group Hamas last Oct. 7, according to Israeli tallies.

The Israeli military offensive launched in response in Hamas-governed Gaza has killed almost 39,000 Palestinians, health officials in the Palestinian enclave say. Israel says 326 of its soldiers have been killed in Gaza.

In the run-up to the Paris Olympics, Palestinian athletes had been given support by Arab states, including Kuwait, Qatar, Libya and Egypt, to allow training in those countries.

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