Athletes Victims of Tel Aviv Crimes

TEHRAN (Defapress) - Since October 7, 2023, when the Zionist regime began its military aggression against the Gaza Strip, the world has witnessed one of the most horrific events in modern history: an unequal and bloody war, the result of which was nothing but the systematic genocide of Palestinians, especially the people of Gaza. Among the main victims of the Zionist army’s brutal aggression were athletes, who suffered 800 martyrs during this period.

These individuals, often recognized as national heroes and symbols of resistance and perseverance, have been directly or indirectly targeted by the occupying regime’s bombings, shootings, and blockades. According to official reports, more than 800 Palestinian athletes have been martyred from the start of this war until today, a statistic that itself testifies to the depth of the tragedy and the deliberate targeting by the Zionist regime of everything that symbolizes life and progress in Gaza.

The Gaza Strip, like other occupied Palestinian territories, has long been under the severe and inhumane blockade of the Zionist regime, and has always used sports as an effective and powerful tool to express national identity and cultural resistance at the regional and global levels. Moreover, despite shortages of facilities, sanctions, and the imposed blockade, Palestinian athletes have managed with dignity and skill to shine in regional and international arenas and raise the flag of Palestine.

However, through its air, land, and sea attacks, the Zionist regime has not only destroyed the athletic infrastructure of Gaza’s athletes, demolishing more than 300 sports facilities have been demolished, but has also taken the lives of hundreds of athletes. These actions can be seen as part of the broader strategy of this illegitimate occupying regime to annihilate Palestinian identity, where even a footballer or a volleyball player is considered a threat to the occupier.

Accordingly, it must be said that the number of martyred Palestinian athletes has steadily and continuously increased since the beginning of the war in October 2023. In this regard, the Palestinian Football Association reported that by June 2025, 785 athletes and sports officials in Gaza and the West Bank had been martyred, and that number had risen to more than 800 by August 2025.

Interestingly, martyred footballers account for the largest share among Palestinian martyrs, with more than 300 of these martyrs being football players, indicating the Zionist regime’s focus on destroying the popular sport of football in Palestine. Therefore, this figure is not merely a number; each of these martyrs tells a story of the oppression and resilience of the people and athletes of Gaza.

Among the most prominent martyrs of the Gaza Strip was Suliman Al-Obeid, known as the “Palestinian Pelé.” Al-Obeid, a former player for the Palestinian national team, was martyred in August 2025 after being shot by Zionist forces while waiting to receive humanitarian aid. Al-Obeid was 40 years old and had played 23 matches for the Palestinian national team. His martyrdom symbolizes the daily terror in Gaza, where even searching for bread and food can lead to death.

Ahmad Abu Al-Atta, a Palestinian footballer, was martyred along with his family in an Israeli airstrike in June 2024. Majed Abu Marahil, the first Palestinian athlete to compete in the Olympics, was killed by Israeli army fire in June 2024. Mohammad Abu Assi, a volleyball player for Hilal Gaza Club, was martyred in an airstrike in October 2024. Mohammad Hussein Al-Sleibi, one of Gaza’s most famous athletes and the top scorer in the league, was martyred by Israeli forces in August 2024.

In addition to these martyred athletes, we must also mention other athletes such as Ibrahim Qusaya and Hassan Munir Abu Zaiter, members of the Palestinian national volleyball team who were martyred in Beit Lahia in November 2023; Jihad Akram Qadous, a volleyball player for the Youth and Friendship Club of Jabalia, martyred in October 2024 during the bombing of northern Gaza; Moin Al-Maghribi, Mohammad Barakat, and Suleiman al-Obeid, three former Palestinian national football team players who were killed in this genocide; Deeb Hussein, an arm-wrestling champion martyred in October 2024 during the bombing of Al-Bureij camp; and Yousef Salman, an athlete from Shabab Beit Lahia Club, who was martyred in Khan Younis in November 2024.

In addition, in the past month, nine other players, Zuhair Al-Hajj Ahmad, Ismail Abu Dan, Ahmad Qanoun, Abdullah Mazen Hawila, Mustafa Meit, Mustafa Abu Amira, Muhannad al-Lili, Hadi Mahmoud Halawa, and Mohammad Al-Wahidi, a volleyball player for the Police Union Club, were martyred in June 2024 in an airstrike by the Zionist regime. This list is only part of the martyrs; more than 500 other athletes have also lost their lives, many of them talented children and youth.

If we are to examine and investigate the terrorist actions of the Zionist regime in martyring the people of Gaza, especially the athletes of this city, we must say that these killings have not been random or aimless; rather, there is a clear and deliberate strategy behind them: the destruction of Palestinian society. This is because, in such circumstances, sports serve as a tool of unity and hope for the people of Gaza and a threat to the Zionist occupying military.

Accordingly, we see that over more than a year since the start of the Gaza war, the Zionist army, by destroying stadiums, clubs, and sports centers, more than 300 in total, has shown that it has no qualms about erasing Gaza’s cultural and sports infrastructure.

The genocide of the people of Gaza by the Zionist war machine and aggressor, with more than 60,000 total deaths in Gaza, shows the depth of hatred and racism of the occupying regime. Meanwhile, the silence of international organizations such as FIFA and the International Olympic Committee proves their complicity alongside the Zionist regime in the massacre and slaughter of the people of Gaza. In the end, the martyrdom of Palestinian athletes stands as a symbol of Gaza’s oppression in the face of the savagery of the “Israeli” regime. Furthermore, through its criminal actions, the Zionist regime not only takes human lives but also destroys the identity of a nation; therefore, the world must condemn this genocide, and sports organizations must boycott this occupying and genocidal regime.