Gaza crowds gather to watch the World Cup final
An estimated 1.5 billion people tuned in to watch the World Cup final. But there can be few more devoted fans than the hundreds who gathered around giant screens showing the match next to the bombed-out buildings of Gaza. They stood amid the rubble of their homes to support Spain as they beat Argentina 1-0 in extra time.
They cheered for the Spanish team because of the country's support for the enclave during the conflict with Israel. Giant screens, erected earlier in the tournament, have offered residents a welcome respite from daily hardships.
Numan Abdullah, a Gaza resident who watched the match, said:
“We came together to support Spain because it has stood by the Palestinian people for years.”
He said the gathering also carried a message of peace and solidarity with countries that stand with Palestinians.
“We are a people who seek peace,”
he added.
Tragically, aid worker Mohammed al-Wahidi, who helped organise the screenings, died in an Israeli airstrike earlier this month. Al-Wahidi, 65, was an English teacher before the war but became a senior official with the Egyptian Relief Committee in Gaza. He worked for the Egypt-backed organisation that has played a prominent role in humanitarian relief efforts. Locals said that he became a familiar face in shelters across the territory because he preferred to remain in the field rather than directing operations from an office.
As of late April, the UN had recorded the killing of at least 593 aid workers since the war began, including eight since Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire 10 months ago.
Aid workers set up the screenings of the World Cup games, in a bid to raise morale in the camps, especially among young children. The matches shown included the controversial 3-2 defeat of Egypt by Argentina.
The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the unprecedented Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023. It saw 1,200 people killed and 251 taken hostage.
At least 73,118 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry. Their figures are considered reliable by the UN.
