Israel declared war on the Islamist group a day after waves of its fighters broke through the heavily fortified border on October 7, shooting, stabbing and burning to death more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians.

Wasserman began his speech by declaring that he was "proud to be Jewish" and recalled how previous generations of his family had fled to the United States from Ukraine "due to the pogroms that eliminated most of the Jewish population."

He added, "If not for their escape, I would not be standing here today.

"Now, nearly 100 years later, I am deeply concerned about the people of Ukraine.

"We must help them in their time of need.

"They face an unfathomable path without us."

Wasserman then condemned the attacks in Israel.

"The world is still reeling from the largest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust," Wasserman told delegates.

"There is no justification for this."

Since then, Israeli strikes on Gaza have flattened neighbourhoods and killed about 2,750 people, mainly civilians, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry.

"I unequivocally stand in solidarity with Israel, but let me be clear I also stand with the innocent civilians in Gaza who did not choose this war," Wasserman added.

Wasserman, citing the deaths of 11 Israeli athletes in a terrorist incident at the 1972 Munich Games, added: "Unfortunately, the Olympics are not immune to the world we live in.

"At its worst, it is a platform for hate to express itself on the stage and we will always remember the 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team who were taken hostage and murdered in Munich.

"But at its best it is an opportunity for sport to show the world a better path with peace and unity, and we will always remember the triumph of Jesse Owens in the face of unspeakable evil."

Wasserman hoped that Los Angeles 2028 could produce a unifying figure like Owens, the winner of four Olympic gold medals at Berlin 1936 whose performances captured the imagination of the German crowds, despite Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime viewing black people as racially inferior.

"So, as stewards of this [Olympic Movement], be relentless and show what is possible when we understand each other and our differences, and embrace those challenges of the time with respect and dignity," Wasserman said.

"The world has never needed the Olympic Games more to be a beacon of light and hope, and let us rise to the challenge together."

But Syed Shahid Ali, an IOC member from Pakistan, was critical of the political content of Wasserman’s speech and claimed it had tended to "overshadow the sports part" of the Los Angeles 2028 presentation.

But Guy Drut, the French IOC member who was in Munich at the time of the 1972 Olympic massacre, supported Wasserman.

"I subscribe to the words said by Casey," Drut said.

"In 1972 as you may know, I was in Munich, it was my first Olympic Games. I experienced that day September 5 when armed people closed in in the Village. 

"I actually experienced first hand these sad events which cost the lives of 11 of our Israeli friends, our brothers, as Casey was saying. 

"But since then, in spite of terrorism, in spite of wars, in spite of geopolitical developments, in spite of pandemics, the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games have always come out unvanquished, in spite of these terrible events. 

"I don't doubt that in the future, Brisbane 2032, Los Angeles 2028, or next year in Paris 2024, that the will of the whole world and particularly the athletes, the Olympians and Paralympians, will maintain an unforgettable memory in their minds and in their hearts of what they will experience at that time."

Wasserman had referenced in his speech that Eric Garcetti, the former Mayor of Los Angeles who had overseen the city's successful bid for the 2028 Olympics, was also Jewish.

Garcetti is now the United States' Ambassador in India and was part of the Los Angeles 2028 team today.

He too tried to emphasise the power of the Olympics.

"I feel I can see the world as we imagine it," he told the IOC Session.

"When we close our eyes and wish for something but at the moment when this world needs us, I think you for cross borders and cultures and languages.

"Representing something bigger than each one of ourselves.

"We can't wait to welcome you to Los Angeles to write this next chapter of this Olympic Movement and its impact on human history."