Israeli football feeling the pressure as Gaza genocide backlash grows

Last month Suleiman al-Obeid, a footballer known as the “Palestinian Pele”, was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza while queueing for food. 

“Obeid wasn’t just a friend and former teammate on the national team, he was one of the most talented and ambitious players I’d ever known,” Mohammad Abu Aita, a former Palestinian national team player, told Middle East Eye.

“He had a beautiful spirit and was a role model for young athletes.”

Israel, Palestinian Football Association (PFA) chairman Jibril Rajoub said, has caused “a catastrophe without precedent” to Palestinian sport.

Israel has now killed 774 Palestinian athletes and officials, including 355 footballers, according to the PFA. Close to 300 sports facilities in Gaza and the occupied West Bank have been destroyed by Israel.

“In Gaza, it's hard to talk about sport at all. Stadiums have been destroyed, sports centres have been damaged, and the players, like all the residents of the Gaza Strip, are busy with daily survival,” Fadi Mustafa, a journalist at Sport 5, an Israeli channel, told MEE.

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