Rajoub claimed that around 300 sportspeople and officials had been killed by Israeli forces and all of Gaza's sports facilities have been demolished since Israel declared war in response to the Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel in October of last year. He also spoke of how some stadiums were used as "centres for arrest and investigation and for the humiliation of people in a shameful way”, referring to the footage of detained Palestinians stripped to their underwear, blindfolded and kneeling in rows inside Gaza City's Yarmouk Stadium, circulated on social media in December. Palestinians at the stadium had reportedly been seeking refuge from the Israeli bombardment before Israeli forces took it over.

"All of these incidents put Israel in a position where it should be prevented from participating," Rajoub said. “We hope that the Olympic movement shuts out Israel. As long as the Israeli side is not willing to confront the government about its transgressions, they are part of the system."

Rajoub also criticised links between Israeli athletes and the Israel Defense Forces. He singled out judoka Peter Paltchik, who will compete at his second Olympics in Paris, who he says is "encouraging" the Israeli army. At a press conference earlier this month, Rajoub held up a printout of a social media post by Paltchik, which showed a photo of several signed missiles accompanied by the words: "From me to you with pleasure.”

"He is signing missiles and sending them as a gift to the children of Gaza," Rajoub told Deutsche Welle.

Responding on Paltchik's behalf, Israel's judo federation said: "We are not mixing politics and sports, but Rajoub (as usual) is lying to the world. Peter didn't sign anything himself. Hamas is the one who targets civilians and uses them as human shelters [sic], not Israel's army. In the picture, the words are: 'Hamas is ISIS,' nothing about children and civilians.”

However, in an email to DW, the federation said they could not say who signed the missiles or why they featured the term "ippon," which is the highest score in judo and signifies an immediate victory.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) responded to this most recent call to ban Israel by referring Deutsche Welle to a Palestinian media report that summarised a recent phone call between Rajoub and Thomas Bach, the IOC president, in which Rajoub "briefed Bach on the violations being committed against the rights of the Palestinian sports movement by the Israeli war machine, in addition to violations committed by some Israeli athletes and official Israeli sports institutions.”

Bach, meanwhile, was said to have "expressed his support for Palestinian athletes in light of the difficult situation in the occupied Palestinian territory.” The IOC had previously told reporters in March that there was "no question" of Israeli athletes not taking part in the Games.

The IOC said that there was "nothing to add" to the summary of the call.

Rajoub has told Deutsche Welle that he "separates politics from sports," although he questions whether Israel was following the IOC's rules that say the practice of sport is a human right.

"If they are really committed to the rules, why do they ignore the violations that are occurring from their army and its aggression against our athletes and sports facilities?" Rajoub asked.

"I'm sure that Israel's participation will be a political burden, a security burden and a moral burden on the Olympic Games."