JABALIA, Palestinian Territories: At a stadium being developed in war-torn Gaza, a young player and goalkeeper silenced the raucous crowd and focused solely on football as they battled.
The referee blew the whistle and the penalty taker fired the ball into the penalty area, sparking wild cheers as the crowd erupted.
For fans and players, Tuesday's game at the Jabalia refugee camp was a welcome distraction from the hunger and exhaustion of nearly 300 days of Israel-Hamas conflict in the Gaza Strip.
Judge Rami Mustafa Abu Hashish told AFP that football had helped “restore some form of life” to Jabalia, devastated by Israeli bombing and fighting that destroyed schools, stadiums and homes. and uprooted families many times.
In the courtyard of the shelter-turned-school, the two sides competed for a trophy that one player said was salvaged from the rubble.
The game created a great atmosphere, with spectators pulling out chairs and leaning against the eaves of the three-story building to cheer.
A group of boys crammed into the bed of an empty truck to get a better view.
“We will play despite hunger and thirst, we will compete because we love life,” reads one child's banner in English and Arabic.
Jabalia was hit hard by an Israeli offensive launched in May, part of a heavy-handed campaign across northern Gaza — an area the military previously said was beyond the control of Hamas militants. .
As the war rages, humanitarian agencies struggle to provide aid and warn of impending famine.
Residents told AFP that there is hardly any food left in the north, and what little reaches them comes at an astronomical price.
For football players, the game offered a rare respite from worries about lack of food and water.
They have been unable to play since the outbreak of hostilities on October 7 triggered by an attack by Hamas, which killed 1,197 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP report based on official Israeli figures.
The militants also took 251 hostages, 116 of whom remain in Gaza, including 44 who the army says are dead.
At least 39,145 Palestinians were killed, most of them civilians, according to the health ministry in Hamas territory.
“Since the war in the Gaza Strip, we have been away from sports because all the clubs have been destroyed, all the playgrounds have been destroyed, but today, we did something meaningless,” said Saif Abu Saif, a among the players.
Gaza's Ministry of Education says 85 percent of the territory's schools are closed due to the conflict.
Many have been turned into war shelters for displaced people as most of the 2.4 million people trapped have been repeatedly destroyed.
Coach Wael Abu Saif said he was determined to attend Tuesday's game despite still suffering from the injury he sustained in the February attack. Now in a wheelchair, he says he has lost the use of both legs.
“I have loved football since I was a child, I love competition, I love playing,” he told AFP.
“I want to prove to the world… that we continue to move forward with our most basic right, which is to play football.”
