Last Friday, France's high-speed rail network was hit by "malicious acts" that disrupted the passenger transport system hours before the Opening Ceremony of the Paris Olympics, leaving hundreds of thousands of passengers without their high-speed transport.

Not content with that, six areas of France's fibre-optic communications system have now been sabotaged, although Paris was not affected, police said on Monday.

It remains to be seen whether those responsible will suffer the same fate as the far-left militant suspected of sabotaging the railways, who was arrested by local authorities after carrying out coordinated acts of sabotage that paralysed high-speed train services.

What is certain is that the fibre optic networks of some operators such as Free and SFR were "sabotaged" in France on Sunday night. The departments most affected are Bas-Rhin, Aude, Hérault, Meuse and Drôme, but not the French capital, which will host the thirty-third modern Olympic Games.

In general, Paris 2024 has not faced any security issues and, so far at least, no attempted attacks have been reported. The city remains heavily militarised and sirens are a constant presence in all districts of Paris and surrounding areas. 

However, there have been threats against Paris in general and against some athletes, such as the three Israeli athletes who received death threats, the Paris prosecutor's office said on Sunday.

Investigations are underway to clarify what happened to the Israeli athletes and the sabotage of the fibre-optic lines, and updates are expected in the coming hours.

Investigations into what happened to the Israeli athletes and the sabotage of the fibre-optic lines are ongoing and updates are expected in the coming hours.

A source close to the case said that no one had yet claimed responsibility for the telecommunications sabotage. It is still unclear whether police are linking the two acts of sabotage.

"It is vandalism," said Nicolas Chatin, spokesman for SFR, one of France's four largest operators. "Large sections of cable have been cut. You would have to use an axe or a grinder," added.

"What makes us angry, frankly, is that we feel the state has not understood the importance of these potential attacks on France's strategic infrastructures," said Nicolas Guillaume of Netalis, a specialist operator.