Gaza: “They forget their fears, the bombings and the war”, football to escape

Un peu de bonheur au milieu des ruines. EPA – MOHAMMED SABER

“During the two hours they come to play, they forget their fears, the bombings and the war,” says Mouayad Abou Afach, coach of a soccer team in the Gaza Strip where children come and kick a ball barefoot in the sand.

In Khan Younès, a Palestinian town in the south of the coastal territory, dozens of them come to train as often as they can against a backdrop of conflict which is ravaging the strip of Gaza for almost eight months.

"This project so that children can play football came about because there are no more sports activities, all the infrastructure of the stadiums was destroyed", said Mr. Abou Afach, at the origin of the meetings. "We are afraid", says Khaled al-Akhras, whose sons are busy running on the field. "But we have learned to practice our hobbies and to continue living even when bombs rain above our heads", confides this father.

At least 36,550 dead

The Gaza Strip is devastated by a war triggered by the unprecedented October 7 Hamas attack in Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,194 people, mostly civilians, according to a AFP count made from official Israeli data.

In response to the attack, Israel launched an all-out offensive in the Palestinian territory that left at least 36,550 dead, mostly civilians, according to data from the Health Ministry of the Gaza government, led by the Hamas. More than 1.7 million Palestinians have been displaced by the fighting, according to the United Nations agency responsible for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

"We want to be happy"

Mouayad Abou Afach himself left the city of Gaza (north) for Khan Younès before heading further south and finally retracing his steps, trying to escape Israeli military operations. Also displaced, many children no longer have school – with the exception of a few improvised local initiatives where teaching is very limited. Although NGOs regularly organize activities – from creative workshops to visits from clowns or puppeteers – the majority of young people spend the day in the streets, idle.

Also read: "The war in Gaza must end" : Macron supports the US proposal to end the conflict

"All of this has a huge impact on their state of mind, their mental health", details the coach who recalls the importance of social interactions and physical activity for children. For everyone on the pitch, each match has a little scent of victory since a few weeks earlier, Mr. Abou Afach was still looking for a ball and a whistle.

"The children come to practice barefoot", he describes from the edge of the area game, which he fears will be strewn with pieces of glass or other objects likely to injure these young fans of Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi. If the project was successful, it is because the religion of football obviously has its Palestinian followers.

At the end of April, when threats of a large-scale military operation weighed on Rafah, a southern cul-de-sac in the Gaza Strip where hundreds of thousands of displaced people were massing, it was here that dozens of young men gathered to watch the "Liga" Spanish between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. In the middle of the crowd seized by the proverbial fever of the sports viewer, Watan Ahmed, a young man wearing a Juventus jersey from Turin, deciphered this meeting of amateurs for the AFP.< /p>

"Look at the people, they are all exhausted, they have all lost a family member or loved one" , he said, turning towards them, "but we want to be happy, and the simple things in life make us happy".