The Olympic Committee of Israel helped involve schools in the day as part of their Olympic values education programme.

The event was organised by the Centre for Jewish-Arab Education in Israel, which consists of a network of integrated, bilingual schools for Jewish and Arab children.

They staged the event in order to mark the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, with students having planned and carried out the activities on the day.

"Olympic Day is a great opportunity to look at the contribution of sport to social issues, such as peace building,” said the physical education teacher of The Galilee School.

In total, 6,000 students from 60 schools participated, along with 150 students from three bilingual schools.

Events included short and long distance running, long jump, high jump and shot put competitions.

Schools expressed their view that students demonstrated during the day how sport can build bridges and foster peace.