French police arrest man suspected of planning Olympic terror attack amid security concerns

Roberto Wakerell-Cruz
  |   July 24, 2024   |   Be the first to comment

French police arrested a man in the Bordeaux area who was planning an attack during the Olympics, officials say.

A security source confirmed the report by Le Parisian to Reuters on Tuesday.

Separately, France's anti-terror police PNAT informed Reuters that an 18-year-old man had been arrested in the Gironde department, southwest France, with plans to commit one or several attacks against people. They did not mention any connection to the Olympics.

The arrests come as the National Security Council of Israel warned Israelis traveling to Paris to exercise increased caution as it believes there will be global jihadist forces “seeking to carry out attacks on Israeli/Jewish targets around the Olympics.”

“International events such as this represent a preferred target for threats and attacks from various terror groups, because of the potential for the wide media impact,” the NSC said in its guidelines for travellers.

They also noted that French authorities arrested teens who sympathized with the Islamic State and planned on carrying out attacks during the Olympics.

The NSC warned travellers to avoid all anti-Israel demonstrations as well.

It did state, however, that Israel would not be raising the warning level for France, which is classified at Level 2: Potential Threat.

Israeli Olympic officials have said that the security budget for the Paris Games has been doubled compared to Tokyo.

Aside from security concerns, many of the athletes are also preparing for an angry reception, including protests outside games, boos inside stadiums, opponents refusing to shake their hands, or other staged provocations, amid the ongoing conflict against Hamas in Gaza, reports the Times of Israel.

French President Emmanuel Macron stressed Tuesday that Israeli athletes were “welcome” for the Paris Olympics, rejecting calls from some left-wing French MPs and the Palestinian Olympic Committee for a boycott.

“Israeli athletes are welcome in our country. They must be able to compete under their colors because the Olympic movement has decided it,” he said in an interview this week, adding that it was “France’s responsibility to provide them with security.”

“I condemn in the strongest possible way all those who create risks for these athletes and implicitly threaten them,” he said.

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