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Palestinian swimmer Yazan Al Bawwab, who is training for the 2024 Olympic Games, has a mission. He wants to represent Palestinians suffering from Israel's bombardment of Gaza by making a splash on the international stage. These Olympics, which kick off in Paris on July 26, are perhaps more important than the last games in 2021 when he competed in Tokyo, he said.

"We, as Palestinian players, are here to raise the flag and show people that we are here, and even if we face difficulties, we will be there and represent the Palestinian people," he said. The 2.3 million Palestinians living in Gaza need all the help they can get as they endure dire conditions.



The war started when Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 hostage, according to Israeli tallies. Israel responded with air and artillery strikes that have killed more than 37,000 people and reduced much of the Gaza Strip to rubble.

Bawwab, 24, who was born in Saudi Arabia to Palestinian refugees, is chasing a dream that is not his alone. "My father’s dream was to learn how to swim and become a swimmer," Al Bawwab told Reuters in Dubai, where he conducts his workouts and runs a furniture factory. But his father, Rashad Al Bawwab, who left Palestinian territory when he was 18, was not able to realize that dream.

"I wanted Yazan to enter swimming, because I loved swimming and it's a beautiful sport," the senior Al Bawwab said. His father said the upcoming games in Paris are an opportunit.

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