An Israeli strike on Gaza just before the kickoff of the Egypt-Argentina World Cup match killed a top Palestinian aid official who helped organise public screenings of the game across the enclave, according to local health officials.
The blast turned what was supposed to be a moment of celebration — the live screening of a potential Argentina upset by an Arab team — into a reminder of how the near-daily Israeli strikes across Gaza are continuing to kill civilians despite a truce reached in October.
The bomb hit a car in the Sabra neighbourhood of Gaza City at dusk Tuesday, killing passersby Mohamed al-Wahidi, an official at the Egyptian Committee in Gaza, 10-year-old boy Hamza al-Deri and his 8-year-old brother, Fari. Ahmed Daghmush, 33, the driver of the car, was also killed. That’s according to Dr. Mohamed Abu Selmiya, the director of Shifa Hospital, which received the four bodies.
The Israeli military said al-Wahidi, who helped organise the soccer screenings, was not a target of the strike. It said the strike was aiming for a Hamas, and it was checking if Daghmush was the target.
Daghmush is a taxi driver not known to be affiliated with any group, Abu Selmiya said.
An Israeli strike hit the same street half an hour earlier, causing no casualties.
The committee for which al-Wahidi worked is the relief arm of the Egyptian government, which provides food, shelters and other assistance to Palestinians in Gaza. The committee organised the initiative to put up screens across Gaza to watch soccer matches, it said.
Many in the Palestinian diaspora live across the border in Egypt, which was a key mediator of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire.
Team Egypt’s Gaza fanbase has only grown since the start of the tournament, as coach Hossam Hassan has spotlighted the plight of the Palestinian people in press briefings and on the pitch. He dedicated his team’s victory over Australia on Friday to both Egyptians and Palestinians and waved a Palestinian flag on the pitch.
In a Monday briefing before the match against Argentina, Hassan urged the world to do more for the Palestinian people.
