Israel’s national gymnastics team has suspended all training and team activities amid the recent Iranian counter-attack on the country following the U.S.-assisted strikes on Iran. 

The Israel Gymnastics Federation (IGF) provided a statement to Fox News Digital announcing the violence has caused “unavoidable disruptions.” 

“The current security situation in our region has resulted in unavoidable disruptions to our regular training schedule and has created significant uncertainty regarding the national teams’ professional plans, particularly as we are at the outset of the international season,” the statement read. 

“At this time, all training activities have been temporarily suspended, pending approval from the relevant authorities to safely resume operations. Naturally, the suspension of training and the closure of airspace are causing considerable stress and concern. However, the safety and well-being of our gymnasts and professional staff remain our highest priority. We sincerely hope for safer and calmer days ahead, when we can focus solely on sport.”

A source within the team told Fox News Digital on Saturday that the gymnasts have been moving between bomb shelters since Iran’s counterstrikes began. 

Israel’s gymnastics team is considered one of nation’s strongest Olympic programs alongside its Judo and sailing teams. The team is only a week removed from a successful trip at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Germany, where the country’s star Artem Dolgopyat won the gold medal in floor gymnastics. 

Now, the team will have to seek safety until the attacks are over.

The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem has directed all U.S. government employees and their family members to continue to shelter in place either in or near their residences as Iran continues to fire missiles at Israel.

Additionally, the embassy announced that due to the security situation, it would be closed on March 2, and did not give an estimate on when it would be reopening. The closure includes consular sections in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. 

The embassy also said it is “not in a position at this time to evacuate or directly assist Americans in departing Israel.” It noted that Ben Gurion Airport remains closed and there there are neither commercial nor charter flights operating from the airport.

On Friday, ahead of the launch of Operation Epic Fury, the embassy gave all non-essential workers permission to leave Israel, with reports that U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee urged those looking to leave to do so as soon as possible.

Iranian airstrikes killed at least eight Israelis on Sunday as Tehran’s latest missile barrage landed just miles from Jerusalem.

The strikes landed in the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh. Initial reports said four people were killed when missiles landed in a residential area on Sunday, but that death toll rose to eight, according to Israel’s national emergency service.

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Iran’s military has carried out counterattacks against Israel and U.S. bases in the Middle East after a joint U.S.-Israeli strike killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday.

The strikes also killed several other top Iranian leaders, including the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

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Local chapters of National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame have begun honoring the top senior football student-athletes, with the Coastal Canyon area banquet set for Sunday in Agoura.

Players are selected based on their grade-point averages and leadership skills, among other attributes, honoring the best of the best.

Such players as James Moffat from Crespi, Mateo Bilaver from Chaminade, Jacob Paisano of Hart, Diego and James Montes from Granada Hills Kennedy will represent their schools on Sunday.

The Los Angeles chapter will hold its gathering in Manhattan Beach on Friday.

Simi Valley coach Jim Benkert has taken over running the Coastal Canyon group with dozens of individual student-athletes set to be honored.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

Team USA Olympic hockey hero Jack Hughes spoke about his support for his country’s women’s hockey team after his team was the subject of backlash for laughing at a joke by President Donald Trump about the women’s team. 

During an interview on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show” Friday, Hughes opened up about his respect for the women’s team after McAfee appeared to reference the controversy by joking that Hughes and his teammates “hate” the women players. 

“We are hanging out with them so much, the women’s team. We were supporting them. Like, we were at their games, they were at our games,” Hughes said. 

Hughes then appeared to address the recent criticism of his team for its response to Trump’s joke.

“Like all these people talking, how many of them watched their gold medal game? Me and Quinn Hughes were at the game. We were at the game until like overtime ended on the glass, and we were jumping up and down so excited for these girls, so excited they won,” Hughes said. 

“And how many of these people watched the gold medal game, watched their semifinals game? Like 10 of the 10 of our players went to their game in the round-robin. Like, we supported them so much, and we’re so proud of them. We’re so happy that they won, and they brought a gold medal back and that, you know, I said it, the men’s and women’s team both brought gold medals back. So, just unbelievable for USA hockey.”

Hughes, who scored the game-winning overtime goal against Canada to win gold, reflected on his interaction with the player on the U.S. women’s team who did the same, Megan Keller.

“Me and her had a great moment in the cafeteria after her gold medal game. We played Slovakia the next night, and it was like a late game. And we were in the pasta line — me and Megan. They were just getting ready to go out again, and I just gave her a massive hug, and I said, ‘I’m so happy for you. I’m so proud of you,’” Hughes said. 

“A couple nights later, saw her again in the [cafeteria], and we took a great picture and, uh, she just gave me a big hug and was so pumped for me as well.” 

Hughes told reporters after the game the first thing he thought about when the puck went in was Keller, who scored the golden goal for the United States women’s team against Canada three days earlier.

US WOMEN’S HOCKEY GOLD MEDALIST SAYS IT’S ‘SAD’ MEN’S TEAM HAD TO APOLOGIZE FOR OLYMPICS CONTROVERSY

The controversy surrounding the men’s team stemmed from a locker room phone call between the players and Trump right after their gold medal win over Canada. 

Trump told the men’s team after inviting them to Tuesday’s State of the Union address that he’d “have” to invite the women’s team, otherwise “I probably would be impeached.” The team laughed in response, prompting immense backlash. 

Several mainstream media outlets penned op-eds condemning the men’s team for laughing at the joke and then visiting the White House to celebrate and Trump’s State of the Union address. 

U.S. women’s hockey captain Hilary Knight said on Wednesday’s edition of ESPN’s “SportsCenter” that Trump’s “distasteful joke” has “overshadow[ed]” the women’s success.

“I thought it was sort of a distasteful joke, and, unfortunately, that is overshadowing a lot of the success, the success of just women at the Olympics carrying for Team USA and having amazing gold medal feats,” Knight said.

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“We’re just focusing on celebrating the women in our room, the extraordinary efforts, and continue to celebrate three gold medals in program history as well as the double gold for both men’s and women’s at the same time. And really not detract from that with a distasteful joke.”

Hughes’ mother, Ellen, a former Team USA player and current player development staff member, said the players only cared about “bring[ing] so much unity to a group and to a country.”

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