In a couple of weeks, on July 26, the 2024 Olympic Games will begin in Paris, bringing joy, excitement and, perhaps most importantly, a renewed sense of human solidarity to the lives of sports enthusiasts around the world.

Millions of people from Africa to Asia and Europe to the Americas will be glued to their television screens to watch athletes draped in the colours of their national flags compete to be the best and to celebrate their successes as their own. Children especially will get to see what can be achieved through determination and hard work and how sports can bring people together.

For Palestinians trying to survive Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, however, the 2024 Olympic Games will be nothing but another confirmation of the world’s apparent indifference to their suffering.

Millions of Palestinian children maimed, orphaned, displaced and traumatised by Israeli aggression will not even be aware of the global sports competition taking place in France. They will be too busy looking for water, food and shelter and mourning their slain loved ones, wrecked homes and stolen futures to pay any attention to who runs the fastest or jumps the highest in Paris.

Since October 7, the besieged Gaza Strip has been the scene of a unprecedented tragedy. According to conservative estimates, in a little more than nine months, Israel’s military has killed more than 38,000 people and wounded nearly 90,000. This death toll includes more than 15,000 children. Many more children have been left without parents. The Israeli assault has also destroyed most of the Strip’s schools and hospitals. There are no universities left standing. Once home........

© Al Jazeera