Muhannad al-Lili, a player for the Nadi Khadamat al-Maghazi football club, succumbed to injuries he sustained days earlier when Israeli occupation forces bombed his family home in the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza.
He is the 439th player killed by the Israeli occupation in Gaza, according to Leyla Hameed, a sports journalist.
The deceased was also a recent groom, as his wedding photos were found on social media.
“Every day we bid farewell to a new athlete. We could be the next target,” said Mohammad al-Sharif, a Gaza footballer, on social media while announcing the death of his colleague.
Abubaker Abed, a Palestinian journalist, posted on X: “A lot of people and sports media outlets are saddened by the death of Jota, which is terrible and devastating, but haven’t uttered a word about the killing of over 425 footballers in Gaza and the destruction of the sports scene there. They caused us a headache with equality and justice three years ago when Ukraine was invaded. Racism and hypocrisy at their peak.”
