Macron says Israeli athletes 'welcome' at Paris Olympics

French President Emmanuel Macron rejected calls from the Palestine Olympic Committee and some French left-wing lawmakers calling for a boycott of Israeli athletes at the Olympics.

"Israeli athletes are welcome in our country. They must be able to compete under their colours because the Olympic movement has decided it," he told French channel France 2.

Macron also said that Israel has "the right to defend itself" but called its assault on Gaza "unacceptable".

The Palestine Olympic Committee had previously sent a letter to the International Olympic Committee asking for Israel to be excluded from the games.

In the letter, Israel is accused of breaching the traditional Olympic truce, which should run from 19 July until after the Paralympics in mid-September, with its continued war on Gaza.