The scale of destruction was evident on the Yarmouk Sports Stadium, constructed in 1952 following Egyptian rule of the Gaza Strip. The stadium was bombed during Operation Pillar of Cloud by Israeli warplanes last November. There is a lack of financial resources to repair it again in the near future. Although the stadium court has been rebuilt, the stands — which could once accommodate thousands of spectators — have not.

Israeli missiles targeted the two main stadiums in the Gaza Strip — the Al Yarmouk and Palestine stadiums — in the last eight days of the war. This caused athletic activity to come to a halt in the Strip, after it had stopped for close to three years when Hamas took over the Strip and assumed control over sports clubs.

Palestinian athletics have seen success in clubs and unions, while other sectors have failed to achieve unity between the contesting Fatah and Hamas powers. Consensual administrative boards for the clubs that Hamas controlled following the Palestinian division were established. Elections were also held, in which different unions took part, allowing the revival of sports in the strip in March 2010.

Ibrahim Abu Salim, vice president of the Football Association, said that "the Palestinian political leaders, namely those from Fatah and Hamas, have agreed to keep sports out of political bickering. There is a current trend among all parties to support athletics and to bring back its role in supporting the Palestinian cause in various international forums."