MOHAMMED DWEDAR, THE sole Palestinian athlete competing at the World Athletics Championship, said he dreams of “all people being free” after running in the 800m heat yesterday. 

Speaking to Irish freelance journalist Cathal Dennehy in Tokyo, Dwedar said that being at the world championships was hugely important to him. 

Visibly emotional, he described training in Palestine as “very difficult”. 

Dwedar, who lives in Jericho in the West Bank, placed eighth in his 800m heat, clocking 1.53.63 as the last runner over the line.

In the two months leading up to the championships in Toyko, Dwedar completed his training on a track in Germany, but for most of the year, the Palestinian athlete trained in the streets of Jericho in preparation for the international event.

He remains optimistic in his hope of one day clinching a medal for Palestine.

“I can improve, I can do it – I can get a medal for Palestine,” he said yesterday.

Speaking to media, the 24-year-old appealed for the world to treat Palestinians with humanity.

“I need to send a message to the world – children in Palestine, we have a lot of dreams,” he said.

“My dream is for us to be free, for all people to be free.”

Last year, Dwedar was one of just four Palestinian athletes to compete in the Olympics in Paris. 

Dwedar’s race coincided with the release of a UN commission of inquiry report yesterday that found Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

The commission concluded that Israeli authorities and forces had since October 2023 committed “four of the five genocidal acts” listed in the 1948 Genocide Convention.

Almost two years into the siege, bombardment and invasion of the Gaza Strip, Israel’s army has killed almost 65,000 people.