Palestinian footballer Imad Abu Tima killed with his family in Israeli strike on Gaza
An Israeli air strike on eastern Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip killed Palestinian footballer Imad Abu Tima, 21, along with nine members of his family.
Abu Tima played for the Ittihad Khan Younis club and represented Palestine’s under-20 national team in 2021, according to media reports.
Abu Tima is one of over 400 Palestinian athletes killed in Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip, according to data from Palestine’s National Olympic Committee.
In July, the Palestine Football Association said that at least 245 football players were killed by Israel in Gaza, including 69 children and 176 young men.
The news comes as Fifa, international football’s governing body, has repeatedly delayed a vote on banning Israel from competing.
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In a decision published on 3 October, the organisation said: “The Fifa Disciplinary Committee will be mandated to initiate an investigation into the alleged offence of discrimination raised by Palestine FA.”
The governing group’s body also said that it will investigate “the participation in Israeli competitions of Israeli football teams allegedly based in the territory of Palestine”.
Israel has destroyed dozens of sports facilities in its attacks on Gaza.
In February, eyewitnesses told Middle East Eye that Israeli forces turned a football stadium in the Shuja'iyya neighbourhood in northern Gaza into a makeshift “interrogation and torture camp” for detained Palestinians.
Over 42,300 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed and 99,013 wounded by Israel since 7 October 2023, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Much of the besieged strip’s civilian infrastructure is now destroyed, with fears of further humanitarian catastrophes as the Israeli army tries to force northern Gaza’s remaining 400,000 population to leave through a renewed ground offensive in the area.
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