Gazans displaced by war watch World Cup from the ruins

By Dawoud Abu Alkas , Haseeb Al-Wazeer and Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA/CAIRO, June 16 (Reuters) - Fadi Al-Arawi, a footballer in the Gaza Strip Premier League, hasn't been able to take the pitch since pro sports were suspended with the outbreak of war more than two years ago. Like most Gazans, he no longer even has a home where he can watch the World Cup on TV.

As Saturday's match between Qatar and Switzerland was about to get under way, he wore his old Gaza Sports Club professional uniform and medals he had picked up at international competitions.

He hovered in the darkness over a flickering laptop, trying to get an internet signal to watch the match with a group of friends in a room in a school converted into a shelter for Gazans displaced by Israel's military campaign.

"See, this is the internet, it's starting to cut out and the match hasn't even started yet," Al-Arawi, 38, told Reuters in Khan Younis as Israeli drones hummed overhead. "Can you hear the drones? We might live or die, we might be bombed."

Much of Gaza was destroyed and its infrastructure heavily damaged during Israel's two-year military assault in the territory, launched after the October 2023 Hamas attacks.

Despite an October 2025 truce, Israel has continued to carry out attacks in Gaza, and Hamas has so far rebuffed calls to lay down its arms in exchange for Israel withdrawing its troops.

'DESPITE EVERYTHING, WE WILL WATCH THE MATCHES'

Nearly the entire population of more than 2 million Palestinians lives in a narrow strip of Hamas-controlled territory along the coast, mainly in tents and damaged buildings.

Alaa Babli, who runs the Royal Cafe in Gaza City, installed two alternative power lines and a backup battery to ensure late-night matches can still be screened once fuel-powered generators shut down after midnight.

Hani Abu Rizq, who came to watch a match beneath flags of Egypt and Morocco hanging on the cafe wall, said Gazans are never free of fear when out in public.

"The cafe could be targeted," he said. "Something next to me could be targeted and I could lose my life... But despite everything we are suffering, we are continuing, and we will watch the matches."

The Palestinian Football Association says 1,000 athletes were among the 73,000 Palestinians killed by Israel in the war since 2023, from children and amateurs in all sports to referees and professionals.

Israel has also destroyed around 285 sports facilities — some completely bulldozed, others bombed. Israeli forces converted stadiums into detention camps, some of which became notorious for allegations of mistreatment of prisoners there, which Israel denies.

The enclave's flagship Al-Yarmouk Stadium in Gaza City, where Al-Arawi and other professionals once played in front of thousands of spectators, is now a tent city for displaced families.

"Since the Israeli war of extermination in 2023, Palestinian sports have been a primary target of the Israeli military machine," said Mustafa Siam of the Palestinian Football Association.

(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo, Dawoud Abu Alkas and Hasseeb Al-Wazeer in GazaWriting by Nidal al-MughrabiEditing by Peter Graff)