Gaza (Palestine) – Quds Press
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February 8, 2026 7:53 PM
Amid an atmosphere of enthusiasm, life returned to football stadiums in the Gaza Strip, with the conclusion of the second day of the first official tournament organized by the Palestinian Football Association in the Strip since October 7, 2023.
The five-a-side football refresher tournament kicked off yesterday, Saturday, with the participation of 24 sports clubs from various regions of the Gaza Strip, representing the Premier and First Division clubs.
The resumption of sporting activity comes at a time when the effects of war are still strongly present. The majority of sports facilities and facilities were completely or partially destroyed, in addition to the martyrdom of hundreds of athletes during the war, which made the return of competitions a double challenge for sports institutions.
Salah Abu Al-Atta, director of the Palestinian Football Association in Gaza, explained that “the Israeli war of genocide on the Gaza Strip caused the complete and partial destruction of 269 sports facilities, and only three stadiums survived: the Palestine Club Stadium in Gaza City, the Nuseirat Stadium, and the Deir Al-Balah Ittihad Stadium in the middle of the Gaza Strip.”
Abu Al-Atta added, “More than 949 athletes were martyred during the war, including 110 under the age of eighteen, while 29 athletes and sports administrators are still under arrest.”
Refresher tournament and union plans
Abu Al-Atta said that since the ceasefire entered into force about four months ago, the Federation has held a series of discussions among members to try to advance the sports sector, and decided to organize a refresher tournament in the remaining five-a-side stadiums in the Strip.
He added: “This step aims to measure the response of athletes, clubs and fans, and to identify obstacles to overcome them, in preparation for launching broader tournaments that include second and third division clubs.”
Abu Al-Atta also revealed the organization of a special tournament for players with amputated limbs, which are players who lost parts of their lower limbs during this and previous wars, in an initiative that reflects the Federation’s interest in integrating affected athletes.
The impact of the war on the sports sector
Abu Al-Atta pointed out that the return to sports comes despite the great challenges left by the war, which included the destruction of facilities, the martyrdom of athletes, and the arrest of a number of them, which made organizing any sporting activity a major challenge for the Federation and sports institutions in Gaza.
Human context and destruction
This comes in light of the ongoing Israeli occupation aggression against the Gaza Strip, which resulted in genocide that left more than 243,000 martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, in addition to more than 8,000 missing persons, and hundreds of thousands of displaced persons, in addition to a famine that claimed the lives of many civilians, including children, in addition to widespread destruction throughout the Strip.
