Palestine Football Association mourns 15-year-old player killed by ‘Israel’ in Gaza

• 15-year-old Muhammad Nidal Barbakh, a player at Al-Najma Sports Academy, was killed by ‘Israeli’ gunfire while playing football with friends in al-Mawasi, Khan Younis.
• The Palestine Football Association and his academy mourned the young footballer, remembering his passion for the sport and ambitions.
• His death brings the reported number of Palestinian sports figures killed since October 2023 to 1,016, according to figures cited by the association.

The Palestine Football Association mourned Saturday 15-year-old footballer Muhammad Nidal Barbakh, who was killed by ‘Israeli’ fire while playing with friends in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis, in southern Gaza.

Barbakh, a player at Al-Najma Sports Academy, was struck by ‘Israeli’ gunfire while practising his favourite sport, the association said in a statement. His death was also announced by the academy, which paid tribute to the teenager as one of its young players whose ambitions and dreams were cut short.

The academy described Barbakh as more than just a player, saying he had been part of its family and a familiar face among the young athletes whose futures it hoped to nurture. It said his love of football had been central to his dreams and that his memory would remain part of the academy.

The killing adds to the mounting toll among Palestinian athletes and sports figures since the start of ‘Israel’s’ war on Gaza in October 2023.

According to figures cited by the Palestinian Football Association, Barbakh’s death brought the number of members of the Palestinian sports movement killed since the beginning of the war to 1,016, including footballers, coaches, referees and sports administrators.

The toll comes alongside extensive destruction of Palestinian sporting infrastructure. A Palestinian Football Association report published in March documented damage to 265 sports facilities in Gaza, including stadiums, football pitches, indoor halls and club headquarters. Of these, 184 were completely destroyed and 81 partially damaged, according to the report.

The destruction has severely disrupted sporting activities across the territory, depriving young Palestinians of training facilities and opportunities to compete. Barbakh’s death underscores the toll on a sporting community that has lost hundreds of its members while its facilities have been devastated.