Israel detains Palestinian Olympics chief Rajoub at Jordan border after Sinwar 'praise'

Israeli forces on Tuesday arrested, Jibril Rajoub, the head of the Palestinian Olympic Committee, at Jordan’s crossing with the occupied West Bank upon his return from France after the Paris Olympic Games.

Rajoub, who is also the head of the Palestinian Football Association, was detained at the King Hussein border (Karama) crossing and had his Israeli passport confiscated.

Israeli authorities also issued Rajoub an order to head to the notorious Ofer camp detention centre for further interrogation, which he refused.

In a statement to The New Arab's Arabic-language site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, Rajoub said: "It is impossible for me to comply with the [Israeli] occupation’s request and go to the Ofer camp next Thursday."

The 71-year-old said he was detained for a further hour following his interrogation before he was allowed beyond the crossing. He confirmed that his passport was handed back to him after two hours of interrogation and detention.

The Palestinian Olympic delegation’s medical officer was also detained during the ordeal and also had his passport seized.

The incident comes as Rajoub had praised Yahya Sinwar, the newly-appointed head of Hamas’s political bureau, in a television interview last week.

The 71-year-old, also the Secretary of the Fatah Central Committee, called Sinwar a "pragmatic, patriotic, and realistic man", and said Israel was attempting to "demonise him" in an interview with Lebanese news channel Al-Mayadeen.

"Sinwar belongs to the same realistic nationalist Palestinian school. He is a realistic and logical man who believes in a solution that is based on compromise," he said.

Rajoub was at the forefront of the Palestinian Football Association’s appeal to football’s global governing body, FIFA, to suspend Israeli teams from participating in international competitions, in response to Israel’s deadly war in the Gaza Strip, much to the ire of Tel Aviv. 

Nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel’s military offensive began over 10 months ago.

The besieged enclave is becoming increasingly unhabitable due to the destruction of much of its infrastructure, the severe lack of food, fuel and basic necessities and a collapsing healthcare system.

A call to ban Israeli teams from international tournaments came as Russian football teams were suspended from both FIFA and UEFA, in response to Moscow’s invasion of and war in Ukraine. The ban has been partially lifted since, allowing U-17 teams to play.

Rajoub has also criticised the head of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for permitting Israeli athletes to compete in Paris, amid Israel’s war on Gaza.

The 71-year said the IOC was carrying out "double standards" and not adhering to the "Olympic charter, laws and regulations or morals", as Israeli athletes were not faced with any consequences despite Israel's atrocities in the Strip.

Russian sportspeople have also been barred from representing the country on the global stage, but have been allowed to compete as neutral athletes since.