According to the Palestinian Football Association, Israel has killed nearly 100 Palestinian footballers since October 7.
Shadi Abu al-Araj, the goalkeeper for Shabab Khan Yunis Football Club, was killed on Saturday in the Al-Mawasi massacre, which was carried out by the Israeli army in the Khan Yunis area, in southern Gaza.
Ali Dahlan, the club’s spokesman, said that the Khan Yunis Youth Club has lost a prominent player, referring to Abu al-Araj’s killing, Al-Jazeera reported.
Dahlan added that Abu al-Araj is not the first athlete of the club to be killed; previous victims include Captain Taha Kalab, the former technical director and director of the youth sector, and Mohammed Barakat, the club captain and a senior player.
Massacre in Gaza ‘Safe Zone’ – Israel Bombs Khan Yunis Camp, Kills, Wounds over 350
The spokesman condemned the “crime of killing Palestinian athletes,” the destruction of the club’s headquarters by Israeli airstrikes, the burning of its facilities and sports halls, and the bulldozing of its fields.
He also criticized the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) for remaining silent on these Israeli crimes.
According to the Palestinian Football Association, Israel has killed nearly 100 Palestinian footballers since October 7.
Two of those players were on the Palestinian National Team, including Mohamed Barakat, known as “the legend of Khan Younis”. Barakat was the first Palestinian to score over 100 goals professionally.
‘Legend of Khan Yunis’ – Israel Kills Top Gaza, Arab Footballer
Hundreds of other young athletes were also killed, mostly children.
At least 90 Palestinians were killed and 289 were injured on Saturday when Israeli occupation forces targeted tents of displaced people in Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, an area previously designated as ‘safe’.
Al-Jazeera reported that the Israeli army conducted violent raids with five missiles on displacement camps west of Khan Yunis, resulting in dozens of deaths and injuries.
Ongoing Genocide
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 38,584 Palestinians have been killed, and 88,881 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.
(PC, AJA)
