Displaced Gazans in Khan Younis Watch FIFA World Cup Amid Israeli Drone Threats

Displaced Gazans are following the FIFA World Cup despite power cuts, sparse internet access, and the threat of Israeli attacks, with Al Jazeera describing football fans now displaced in schools and tents.

In Khan Younis, Fadi Al-Arawi told Reuters that he could hear Israeli drones as he tried to watch a match on a flickering laptop, saying, "Can you hear the drones? We might live or die, we might be bombed."

Al Jazeera

Al-Arawi said he has not been able to take the pitch since pro sports were suspended with the outbreak of war more than two years ago, and he said he no longer has a home to watch on TV.

Alaa Babli, who runs the Royal Cafe in Gaza City, installed two alternative power lines and a backup battery so late-night matches can be screened once fuel-powered generators shut down after midnight.

Hani Abu Rizq said, "The cafe could be targeted," and added, "But despite everything we are suffering, we are continuing, and we will watch the matches."

Al Jazeera frames Gaza’s World Cup viewing as a shift from watching "from the comfort of their homes" to watching while displaced in schools and tents under the threat of Israeli attacks.

Reuters’ account of the same hardships places the viewing effort under Israeli drones, with Al-Arawi describing the internet cutting out as the match between Qatar and Switzerland was about to get under way.

Amnesty International

The Palestinian Football Association says 1,000 athletes were among the 73,000 Palestinians killed by Israel in the war since 2023, and it says Israel has destroyed around 285 sports facilities.

Mustafa Siam of the Palestinian Football Association said, "Since the Israeli war of extermination in 2023, Palestinian sports have been a primary target of the Israeli military machine," and Israel denies allegations of mistreatment at detention camps in converted stadiums.

In Gaza City, the enclave’s flagship Al-Yarmouk Stadium is now a tent city for displaced families, according to Reuters’ description of where professionals once played before thousands of spectators.

Amnesty International warned that millions of football fans attending the FIFA Men’s World Cup 2026 in Canada, Mexico and the United States risk facing troubling attacks on human rights, including due to the United States’ "abusive and deadly immigration policies."

“Hostilities surrounding the 2026 World Cup are underway”

Dialectik Football

Amnesty said severe restrictions on freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly threaten the prospect of a tournament FIFA promised would be safe, welcoming and inclusive, and it cited a report titled "Humanity Must Prevail: Defending Rights and Combating Repression During the FIFA World Cup 2026."

Amnesty’s Steve Cockburn said, "The U.S. government expelled more than 500,000 people from the country in 2025," and he linked the expulsions to "the erosion of guarantees of due process."

Amnesty also described how President Donald Trump placed under federal command and deployed 4,000 members of the California National Guard to Los Angeles in June 2025 in response to protests against immigration operations.

Amnesty warned that travel bans imposed by the Donald Trump administration mean fans from Côte d’Ivoire, Haiti, Iran and Senegal will not be able to enter unless they hold a valid visa before January 1, 2026.