IDF Names Eleven Gaza Footballers as Armed Militants Killed During Wartime Operations
The Israeli Defense Forces have publicly identified eleven Palestinian footballers it struck and killed during the Gaza war, asserting each man held an operational role within the military wings of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The IDF released the names in a statement following what it described as an intelligence assessment, and said the disclosures were intended to counter what it characterized as a deliberate international campaign portraying the men solely as athletes and civilians. Three of the eleven players were alleged to have participated in the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel, according to the statement.
The IDF named the individuals as Mohammed Mohammed Hassan Barakat, Mahmoud Kamal Mohammad Ali Al-Rifi, Mohammed Mansour, Ahmed Mohammed Hassan Abu Al-Atta, Abdullah Riyadh Abdullah Khattab, Ali Mahmoud Ahmed Al-Kurd, Mohammad Emad Ata Hussouna, Tariq Ziad Hussein Al-Hour, Mohammed Ziad Hussein Al-Hour, Mahmoud Osama Al-Jazzar, and Mohammad Nidal Mohammed Al-Hawajri. The statement said the men had been "presented internationally only as players, with no mention of their affiliation with terrorist organizations," and accused unspecified actors of running coordinated false-narrative campaigns that similarly misrepresented Palestinian journalists and humanitarian workers killed during the conflict. The Palestinian Authority and the Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine to the United Nations had not responded to requests for comment at the time of the statement's release. skeleton olympics odds
The Palestinian Football Association reported earlier this month that approximately 1,009 members of its sporting community had been killed by Israeli forces since the war began in October 2023, a figure cited by Al Jazeera. That toll has formed the central argument in a sustained campaign by PFA president Jibril Rajoub, who has lobbied FIFA and the International Olympic Committee to suspend Israel from international competition, citing both the athlete death toll and the destruction of sporting infrastructure in Gaza. FIFA's Disciplinary Committee rejected a full suspension of the Israel Football Association. In a separate disciplinary action, FIFA fined the IFA 150,000 Swiss francs - approximately $190,700 - for multiple breaches of anti-discrimination obligations, and ordered the association to adopt a mandatory anti-discrimination prevention plan and display "Football Unites the World - No to Discrimination" banners during upcoming matches.
The IDF's disclosures intensify an already sharp dispute over how casualties within Gaza's sporting community are categorized and reported, a question with direct bearing on FIFA's ongoing review of Israel's membership status. Whether the named players' alleged militant affiliations are independently verified will likely determine the degree to which the statement reshapes that broader debate.
