Israeli army kills Palestinian footballer Mahmoud Kamal Abdel-Malek in Gaza

Palestinian footballer Mahmoud Kamal Fares Abdel-Malek has been killed in an Israeli air strike on Gaza, the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) has confirmed. The PFA said Abdel-Malek, the captain and goalkeeper of Gaza Sports Club, was targeted in Tuesday’s attack on Gaza City’s southern Sabra neighbourhood. Recommended Stories list of 4 items list 1 of 4 A decade of Lajee Celtic: The Palestinian club whose fans include Cantona list 2 of 4 The return of Palestinian football: ‘We are a people who must live’ list 3 of 4 Lebanese footballer refuses to give up after injuries from Israeli strike list 4 of 4 Grief, tears and vows: Jesus De Miguel honoured in moving Tenerife tribute end of list The 20-year-old was the 1,017th person involved in sport to be killed in Gaza in Israel’s genocidal war on the enclave, according to figures provided by the PFA.

Abdel-Malek’s death came five days after he played in the final of the Gaza and Northern Gaza division of the Thousand Martyrs Cup , a tournament named after the more than 1,000 athletes and sports officials killed in the Strip since October 2023. “Club legend and goalkeeper of the first team Mahmoud Kamal Fares Abdel-Malik was martyred moments ago,” the club wrote in a social media post announcing his death. Gaza Sports Club finished as runners-up in the final of the tournament that Al Jazeera covered last week .

More than 200 clubs competed, including 146 from the occupied West Bank, 44 from Gaza, and 36 from Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. The tournament kicked off simultaneously in the three locations. PFA President Jibril Rajoub said the event showed that Palestinians had not lost their “national will”. “Nor have we lost our belief that sport will remain a symbol of hope and life,” he added. Abdel-Malek’s death comes days after Israeli forces killed 15-year-old Mohammad Nidal Barbak on Friday, shooting him while he was playing football with his friends in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis.

Advertisement The incident has highlighted FIFA’s inaction towards Israel, despite its multiple breaches of the global football body’s anti-discrimination rules. In March, the PFA called for the Israeli Football Association (IFA) to receive a ban after a report by FIFA’s disciplinary committee found that the IFA “failed to take meaningful action against Beitar Jerusalem” for “persistent and well-documented racist behaviour”. “We maintain our right and continue our efforts to ensure that the Israeli Football Association is expelled from all international institutions,” Rajoub, who also heads the Palestine Olympic Committee, said at the time.

On the alleged criminal activity of Israeli sports officials, Rajoub said he was referring to instances of players killed during the three years of genocide in Gaza, and the destruction of many of the territory’s sports facilities. Israeli attacks have devastated Gaza’s sports infrastructure, destroying stadiums, clubs, sports halls and academies as well as bulldozing several sports facilities, Palestinian sports officials say. The human losses and destruction have left Palestinian sport in an “existential” crisis, according to Palestinian Sports Media Federation Secretary-General Mustafa Siam.

Israel has destroyed more than 50 of Gaza’s 56 sports clubs and about 20 five-a-side football fields established by the PFA with support from FIFA, he told the Anadolu news agency in August. At least 74,645 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, 2023, while 175,978 have been injured, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.