“During the two hours they come to play, they forget their fears, the bombings and the war,” says Muayad Abu Afach, coach of a football project in the Gaza Strip in which children play football barefoot on the sand.
In Khan Yunis, a Palestinian city in the south of the coastal territory, dozens of young people train in the midst of the conflict that has ravaged the Gaza Strip for eight months.
“This project so that children can play football came to light because there are no longer any sporting activities, all the stadium infrastructures were destroyed”, adds Abu Afach, promoter of the initiative.
“We are afraid. But we have learned to practice our hobbies and to continue living despite the bombs falling on our heads,” says Jaled al Akhras, as his children run around a playing field.
The Gaza Strip is devastated by a war triggered by Hamas’ unprecedented attack on October 7 in southern Israel, which left 1,194 people dead, most of them civilians, according to official Israeli data.
In response, Israel launched an offensive in Palestinian territory in which at least 36,550 people died, mainly civilians, according to data from the Ministry of Health of the Gaza government, led by Hamas.
The United Nations Middle East Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA) reported that more than 1.7 million Palestinians have been displaced by the fighting.
“We want to be happy”
Muayad Abu Afach himself had to leave the city of Gaza (in the north) to reach Khan Yunis, before having to go south and end up retracing his steps, due to Israel’s military operations.
Also displaced, children do not go to school, except for those who benefit from some improvised local initiatives, despite the lack of teachers.
If NGOs do not organize activities such as creative workshops or clown and puppet shows, most children and young people spend their days on the streets.
“All of this has a huge impact on their state of mind, on their mental health”, says the coach, who recalls the importance of social relationships and physical activity for children.
Therefore, each match played is seen as a small victory, given that a few weeks ago Abu Afach was still looking for a ball and a whistle to be able to organize them.
“The children train barefoot,” he describes, saying he fears that the field is covered in broken glass or other objects that could hurt the young fans of Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé.
At the end of April, despite threats of a large-scale military operation in Rafah, a dead-end territory in the south of Gaza where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are crowded, dozens of young people gathered to watch the Spanish Championship classic on television. between Real Madrid and Barcelona.
In the crowd was Watan Ahmed, a young man dressed in a Juventus shirt.
“Look at all of them, they are exhausted, they have lost everything, they have all lost someone in their family or acquaintances, but we want to be happy and the simple things in life make us happy”, he said when describing that occasion of relaxation.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
Kingston is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
