Palestinian Olympians may find themselves competing in Rio next week without any uniforms or equipment after Israeli customs authorities held their gear, according to the Associated Press .
The Secretary-General of the Palestinian NOC Munther Masalmeh said that the gear had yet to clear customs.
However, AP reported that the Israel Tax Authority denied any knowledge of such a hold, and offered to assist the Palestinians if requested.
For now, Palestine's six Olympians are on their way to Rio and hoping the equipment catches up. The squad include two swimmers, two runners, a judoka and a dressage horse rider.
Mayada Sayyad has qualified for the marathon, while Christian Zimmerman will compete in the dressage riding event. Meanwhile, swimmers Mary Al-Atrash and Ahmed Gebrel will enter the 50-meter and 200-meter freestyle races at Rio 2016. Simon Yaacoub was invited to compete in the extra-lightweight category at the judo tournament and Mohammed Abu Khoussa will run in the 100-meter sprints.
Israeli authorities have made a history of interfering with Palestinian sports. The Palestinian NOC's official website published a report " Israeli Occupation Transgressions against Palestinian Sports," which illustrates a series of unexplained detentions of the national team, athletes and sports personnel.
Palestine has previously asked football's governing body FIFA to ban Israel for hindering the movement of Palestinian athletes based on alleged security reasons. These efforts have been unsuccessful.