Jibril Rajoub, head of the Palestine Olympic Committee, stated that 400 athletes, coaches, and sporting officials have been killed in Gaza since October, Al Jazeera reported.
“Through this participation, we want to present the suffering of the Palestinian people and the unprecedented killing taking place in Gaza,” Rajoub said.
“We want this participation to be a message from the Palestinians to the world that it is time for them to be free in their homeland,” he added.
Eight athletes will represent Palestine this year, competing in athletics, swimming, archery, taekwondo, judo, and boxing.
Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Varsen Aghabekian Shahin expressed support, saying, “You are not just athletes, you are also … symbols of Palestinian resistance.”
Palestinian-American swimmer Valerie Tarazi, 24, is among the athletes representing Palestine at the Paris Olympics.
“My heart aches for them,” Tarazi said, referring to Palestinians in Gaza.
“Being in Paris on behalf of Palestine is a very important thing and taking part in a global swimming competition at a time when there are no places to train is surreal,” she added.
Palestinian athletes have participated in the Olympics since 1996, when long-distance runner Majed Abu Marahil competed in Atlanta.
Marahil died in Gaza in June after being unable to receive treatment for kidney failure at the besieged enclave’s devastated hospitals, officials said.