Palestine urges FIFA to address Israeli violations against sports

By Qais Abu Samra

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – Palestine has called on the international football governing body, FIFA, to address Israeli violations against Palestinian sports.

The Palestinian Football Association said it submitted a proposal to discuss Israeli human rights violations against the Palestinians during the FIFA Congress on May 17 in Thailand.

The proposal “calls for immediate sanctions against Israeli teams over unprecedented violations of human rights committed by the Israeli occupation in Palestine, particularly in the Gaza Strip,” it added in a statement.

“The Israeli Football Association is complicit in the violations of the Israeli government against Palestinian football, as it provides moral support for the occupation government's actions and justifies its violations,” the proposal reads.

According to the statement, at least 99 Palestinian football players have been killed and dozens of facilities destroyed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip since last October.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack led by Hamas in which some 1,200 Israelis were killed.

Nearly 32,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and more than 74,000 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of most food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

​​​​​​​Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in January issued an interim ruling ordering Tel Aviv to ensure its forces do not commit acts of genocide, and guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul