Israel’s Olympic delegation gathered at the Olympic Village in Paris on Sunday night to have a minute of silence in honor of the 12 Druze Israeli children killed a day earlier in a Hezbollah rocket attack in the Golan Heights, a strategic region on Israel’s northern border previously controlled by Syria.

Israeli athletes, staff members, and heads of the delegation all came together to pay tribute to victims of the attack, in which 20 others were wounded, according to the Israeli military. An Iranian-made rocket, fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon, hit a soccer field where children were playing in Majdal Shams, a Druze-majority town located south of Lebanon and next to the Syrian border.

All those killed were between the ages of 10 and 16.

The Israeli Olympic delegation shared a photo on Facebook of delegation members gathered in a circle, with their heads bowed down, as they stood in silence in memory of the children killed in the Hezbollah strike. The delegation said the attack and the ongoing Israel-Hamas war are “constantly in the minds and hearts of all the delegation members.”

During the funeral for 11 of the 12 children killed in the attack, thousands of Druze mourners, many in traditional high white and red Druze headwear, surrounded the caskets on Sunday as they were carried through Majdal Shams. The 12th victim — 11-year-old Jifara Ibrahim — was thought initially to be missing after the Hezbollah attack, but authorities confirmed on late Sunday that he was also killed in the rocket strike.

Israel vowed retaliation for the deadly strike and hit a number of targets inside southern Lebanon on Sunday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said that Hezbollah “will pay a heavy price for this attack, one that it has not paid so far.”

The attack by the Lebanese terrorist organization took place as Israel and another Iran-backed terror group, Hamas, are negotiating a ceasefire deal to end the war in the Gaza Strip that began after the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre in southern Israel.

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The International Judo Federation (IJF) said on Monday that it launched an investigation into an incident that happened a day earlier at the Paris Olympics with an Algerian judoka who was hailed for being unable to compete against an Israeli opponent, the same day that another Israeli judoka was snubbed at the Olympic Games by his competitor from Tajikistan.

Algerian judoka Messaoud Redouane Dris was disqualified from competing in an under 73 kg bout against Israel’s Tohar Butbul after he failed the official weigh-in on Sunday. The IJF said Dris arrived for the weigh-in session on Sunday 10 minutes before the deadline and was overweight by 400 grams, which made him ineligible to compete against Butbul in a match that was scheduled for Monday.

Algeria does not formally recognize the state of Israel and this is the second straight Olympics where an Algerian judoka voluntarily withdrew or was pulled out of the Olympic Games right before facing an opponent from Israel. There is speculation that Dris wanted to be pulled from the competition to avoid competing against an Israeli opponent, especially after Algerian media and a sponsor of the Algerian Olympic delegation praised Dris for not competing against Butbul, according to Reuters. The head of Israel’s Olympic Committee, Yael Arad, called Dris’ behavior a “disgrace” and called for the Algerian delegation to be penalized. The IJF said it will investigate the matter.

“Following the Olympic Games, a full review and investigation of the situation will be conducted and further action will be taken if needed,” the IJF said in the statement. “The IJF firmly upholds the principles of fair play, the Olympic spirit, and non-discrimination. We believe that sport should remain a realm of integrity and fairness, free from the influences of international conflicts. Unfortunately, athletes often become victims of broader political disputes which are against the values of sport.”

On Monday, Butbul showed up for his scheduled bout against Dris at the Champs de Mars Arena, stepped on the mat, and did the customary dojo bowing to where his opponent should have been standing, before leaving to prepare for another match.

Also on Sunday, Tajikistani judoka Nurali Emomali, 22, refused to shake hands with his Israeli counterpart Baruch Shmailov, 29, in round 16 of the men’s under 66 kg competition judo competition at the Paris Olympics. Emomali won the match and instead of shaking hands with Shmailov, which is customary to do at the end of a bout, he walked off the mat saying “Allah Akbar,” which is Arabic for “God is great.” Emomali also held up a raised index finger known as the “Finger of Tawheed,” which refers to the Islamic belief that “There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is His prophet.”

Emomali won the match 1-0. However, his luck turned shortly after when he competed against Japanese Olympian Abe Hifumi in the 21st round, which was also the quarterfinals of the men’s under 66 kg competition. At the end of the match, Hifumi, 26, slammed Emomali to the ground and during the brutal fall, Emomali severely dislocated his shoulder. Hifumi won the bout 10-0.

Meanwhile, Jibril Rajoub, president of the Palestinian National Olympic Committee, told The Guardian that he will not shake hands with any member of Israel’s Olympic delegation at the Paris Games unless they recognize Palestinians and their right to independence.

“Before you ask me, ask them: do they recognize the very existence of the Palestinian people and our right to an independent state, next to Israel, according to UN legitimacy?” Rajoub said. “If they have this commitment, as a matter of principle I have no problem shaking hands with anyone who is recognizing my right to self-determination and our right to existence. But I will not shake hands as lip service with anyone who does not. It isn’t a matter of courtesy, it’s a matter of principle. They would have to be ready to fight to build bridges of peace by mutual recognition.”

Rajoub has called for Israeli athletes to be banned from international competitions and the Olympics because of Israel’s military actions in the Gaza Strip during the country’s ongoing war against Hamas terrorists responsible for the Oct. 7 massacre in southern Israel. The Palestinian delegation for the Olympic Games in Paris is comprised of eight athletes, one of whom wore to the opening ceremony on Friday a shirt that depicted airplanes dropping bombs onto civilians — an apparent nod to the Israel-Hamas war.

Rajoub said he and the Palestinian Olympic delegation will adhere to the International Olympic Committee’s code of conduct during their time in Paris, but “if we feel that there is any violation from our side, we have to fight against it,” he further told The Guardian. “The ball is in the other side’s court. Go and ask the president of the Israeli national Olympic committee how they can encourage their soldiers, how their judo champion can do this,” he added. “Don’t ask the victim, ask the criminal.”

Rajoub was referring to Peter Paltchik, an Israeli judoka and one of Israel’s flag bearers for the Olympic opening ceremony. After the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack in Israel, Paltchik shared on social media a photo of several missiles that were signed with messages — including one that compared Hamas to the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist organization and also said “Ippon,” which is the highest score achievable in judo and immediately ends a match. Paltchik wrote in the caption of the photo, “From me to you with pleasure #HamasisISIS #IsraelAtWar.”

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Any possible Israeli attack on Lebanon will have serious consequences for Israel, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a phone call with French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, Iran’s state media reported on Monday.

Israeli authorities blamed Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah for a rocket attack that hit a football ground in the Golan Heights on Saturday, killing 12 children and teenagers, and vowed to inflict a heavy response. Hezbollah denied any responsibility for the strike.

“Any possible Israeli attack on Lebanon will have serious consequences for Israel,” Pezeshkian was quoted by Iranian state media as saying.

“We are willing to improve our relations with France on the basis of mutual trust,” Pezeshkian added in his conversation with Macron.

Macron spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, the French presidency said, as Paris seeks to prevent a broader escalation between Israel and Hezbollah.

The presidency said Macron had reminded Netanyahu that France was fully committed to doing “everything to avoid a new escalation in the region by passing messages to all parties involved in the conflict.”

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