Israel Kills Mohamed Al-Wahidi, Gaza World Cup Screenings Organiser, Before Egypt-Argentina Match

Israel killed Mohamed al-Wahidi, described as a senior leader organising World Cup screenings in Gaza, in a drone or missile strike shortly before the Egypt-Argentina match, with the attack also killing two children and one other person.

The Guardian said the Sabra district of Gaza City was hit about an hour before kick-off, and it identified the two brothers as Fari and Hamza al-Deri, aged eight and 10, killed alongside Ahmed Daghmush.

Al Jazeera

BBC reported that an Israeli missile struck the taxi al-Wahidi was travelling in through the Sabra neighbourhood, killing him along with three other people including two brothers aged eight and 10 and another man.

Al Jazeera said the strike killed al-Wahidi and that survivors described displaced children gathering moments before the screening he organised, while the Israeli military said it had struck a Hamas operative in its military wing.

The Israeli military confirmed the strike and said al-Wahidi had not been its intended target, with the IDF spokesperson telling CBS News that it had struck a terrorist in Hamas’ military wing while traveling in a vehicle in the northern Gaza Strip.

CBS News also reported that the Egyptian Relief Committee in Gaza mourned al-Wahidi in a statement provided to CBS News, saying it was with "profound sorrow and grief" that it mourned his death.

Al Jazeera

BBC described an outpouring of grief across the Gaza Strip and quoted activist Mohammed Hmeid writing that al-Wahidi "was a door to hope that opened every day for displaced people and those who had lost everything."

In the same BBC account, the broadcaster said al-Wahidi had been killed only hours before Egypt’s last 16 match against Argentina, after he helped organise public screenings of World Cup matches in Gaza City, Deir al-Balah and the al-Mawasi area in southern Gaza.

The Guardian said the Israeli army still directly occupies more than 60% of the Gaza Strip and that nearly 3,500 Palestinians were wounded since the US-brokered ceasefire was declared in October, while it also cited a UN independent commission of enquiry saying Palestinian children were deliberately targeted and killed by Israel during the war.

BBC reported that as of late April the UN had recorded the killing of at least 593 humanitarian workers since the war began, including eight since Israel and Hamas agreed a ceasefire 10 months ago.

Novara Media added that Israel genocide in Gaza has killed, at a conservative estimate, over 73,000 people, and it said among those killed are 567 footballers according to the Palestinian Football Association.

In the same BBC report, it said at least 73,118 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, and it framed al-Wahidi’s death as coming as humanitarian workers continue to face significant risks.