Israeli athletes will receive 24-hour protection during the Paris Olympics, French officials have said, after a left-wing lawmaker said the Israeli delegation was not welcome in the French capital.

Speaking at a rally on Saturday, Thomas Portes, an MP with the far-left party France Unbowed, called for protests over the participation of the Israeli team in the Games amid the country’s continuing offensive in Gaza.

Portes said the Israeli delegation would not be welcome in Paris and he called for an immediate and permanent cease-fire to bring fighting in Gaza to an end.

His comments drew a swift backlash, with Yonathan Arfi, head of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France, accusing the politician of effectively “putting a target on the backs of Israeli athletes,” as he pointed to the 1972 killing of 11 Israeli athletes by Palestinian operatives at the Munich Olympics in a post on X.

French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said in a television interview on Sunday that Israel’s Olympic team would receive 24-hour protection during the Games following Portes’ comments.