Israel killed the ‘Palestinian Pele’ and his dream of a new football era in Gaza

Suleiman al-Obeid won 24 caps for the Palestinian national team, but his life ended on Friday when Israeli quadcopters attacked crowds of aid seekers in Gaza

Suleiman al-Obeid hoped to train Palestinian footballers as a way for them to escape poverty (Palestinian Football Association)

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During a footballing career spanning decades, Palestinian footballer Suleiman al-Obeid played 24 times for the Palestinian national team and earned the accolade the “Palestinian Pele” for a style that resembled the Brazilian legend.

For all his achievements on the pitch, his life ended on Friday, like hundreds of fellow Palestinians in Gaza, when he was killed by the Israeli army while collecting aid for his family from a US and Israel-backed aid distribution point in Rafah, southern Gaza.

Obeid had joined crowds of aid seekers after months of siege and Israeli-imposed starvation, and saw no other way of feeding his family.

According to witnesses, an Israeli quadcopter dropped a munition on him at the site, killing him instantly.

Israeli soldiers and foreign security contractors have killed close to 1,400 Palestinians at aid distribution points run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a controversial food distribution operation that replaced aid distribution networks run by humanitarian groups.

Middle East Eye spoke to Obeid’s wife, Doaa, 35, who said her husband had been visiting the aid distribution centres for more than a month, in order to obtain food.

“Suleiman began to look for aid after all of our stored food ran out. Market prices are skyrocketing and there is no cash available,” she said.

“My husband had to walk into death traps to feed our children”.

According to Doaa, Suleiman could feel the threat of death intensifying, the longer the GHF aid operation continued.

'He was sure he would be killed there'

- Doaa, wife of Suleiman al-Obeid

Mass killings at GHF sites have been a daily occurrence since the operation started in late May, but little to nothing has been done to prevent Palestinians from dying.

“The last three times he went to the aid centre, he told me it was getting more dangerous every day.

“He described bullets whizzing past his head like rain. He was sure he would be killed there, and refused to take our eldest son, Naseem, who is 17, with him.”

The risks notwithstanding, Suleiman felt he had a duty to join the lines of aid seekers.

His wife said the ordeal of joining the queues for food handouts was humiliating for Suleiman, given his past as a celebrated sportsman in Palestine.

“He was ashamed to go there. He even wore a cap to hide his face so no one would recognise him,” Doaa said.

“He ignored his own feelings to feed our children, terrified by the thought of them going hungry.

“I begged him many times to stop going. I told him maybe we could survive without food, but not without him.

“He refused, saying he had hungry children to feed and couldn’t bear to see them go without.”

Deliberate killings

According to Doaa, Israeli quadcopters deliberately fired on crowds waiting for food on the day Suleiman was killed.

News of her husband’s death reached her a few hours after he had left, but she refused to believe it was true, until his body was brought back for burial from Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

She received him covered in a white shroud, his face unrecognisable under dried blood.

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“I can’t describe the pain I felt when I saw him dead. But I told myself it was better than him losing a leg, he was terrified of the idea,” she said.

“He used to say he couldn’t stand the thought of being disabled after being such a skilled player.

“The lucky ones were those who escaped alive; the luckiest were those who escaped with a few meals in hand,” she added.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has faced international criticism since its inception, over its distribution methods and the locations of its sites, which are situated dangerously close to Israeli military positions.

According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), more than 1,400 people have been killed by Israeli forces while waiting for aid near distribution points or along the routes of humanitarian convoys near the northwestern border of Gaza.

Whistleblower Anthony Aguilar, a former US army officer who worked for GHF, has described indiscriminate shooting by Israeli soldiers targeting the crowds of aid seekers.

In numerous interviews, he has said he did not encounter any military justification for the opening of fire.

Gaza is in Phase 5 (catastrophic) on the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) scale, with over 96 percent of its population facing severe food insecurity, according to the United Nations.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health has recorded over 197 deaths from malnutrition so far in August, including 96 children.

The dream of a new generation

Obeid had a number of nicknames besides "Pele", including the Gazelle, the Palestinian Henry, after former France and Arsenal forward Thierry Henry, and the Black Pearl, and he was considered one of Gaza’s most beloved sporting figures.

He spent his career playing for local clubs, most notably al-Shati, al-Am’ari, and Gaza Sports Club.

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In his later years, he trained to become a football coach, hoping to become a youth coach and nurture a generation capable of competing beyond Gaza’s borders.

“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,” said Mohammad Abu Aita, a former Palestinian national player and current trainer.

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

Abu Aita explained that Obeid had lived a difficult life and wanted to change the way football was viewed in Gaza.

By training young players to a high level, he would help Gaza’s youth access a route out of poverty.

“He left a mark on everyone in Gaza’s sports scene. People loved talking to him and taking photos with him.

“He had the ability to influence others and bring real change in his field. I was certain he would have excelled as a coach,” Abu Aita told MEE.

“What hurts most is that the career of such a great player came with a tragic end while he was trying to feed his children.

'He thought his final days would be in the national team’s training rooms, not in a blood-soaked street for a few kilos of flour'

- Mohammad Abu Aita, former Palestinian footballer

“He thought his final days would be in the national team’s training rooms, not in a blood-soaked street for a few kilos of flour.”

The Palestinian Football Association says Israel has killed around 762 athletes and sports officials in various disciplines during its war on Gaza, and has destroyed more than 267 sports facilities in whole or in part, as part of a systematic policy to wipe out all aspects of life in the Strip.

“I think reviving sports in Gaza will be extremely difficult because almost all facilities have been destroyed, and there will be no priority for rebuilding them after the war, especially with urgent needs in the health sector and humanitarian relief taking precedence,” Abu Aita added.

Obeid’s killing shocked sports communities beyond Palestine.

International media outlets reported his death, and tributes poured in worldwide.

Uefa posted a condolence message on X (formerly Twitter) without mentioning the circumstances of his death, drawing sharp criticism from thousands, including Mohamed Salah.

The Liverpool star asked: “Can you tell us how he died, where, and why?”

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