Amputee soccer players send message of hope from Gaza

VIDEO SHOWS: PALESTINIAN AMPUTEES COMPETING IN A SOCCER MATCH IN GAZA'S DEIR AL-BALAH / COMMENTS FROM PLAYERS AND TECHNICAL MANAGER OF THE PALESTINIAN NATIONAL AMPUTEE SOCCER TEAM SHOWS: DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA (NOVEMBER 17, 2025) (REUTERS – Access all) 1. VARIOUS OF PALESTINIAN AMPUTEES GETTING READY FOR A SOCCER MATCH / CRUTCHES NEAR THE PLAYERS ON THE GROUND 2. PROSTHETIC LEG ON THE GROUND NEAR BAG AND CLOTHES 3. VARIOUS OF PLAYERS STANDING WITH CRUTCHES 4. VARIOUS OF PLAYER STRETCHING, WITH CRUTCHES NEAR HIM 5. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN SOCCER PLAYER, MOHAMMED ALIWA, SAYING: “During (after) the past two years of genocidal war, we organise today the Hope Championship to revive sports, rekindle the dreams we had before the war, restore our spirits, and convey our message to the world – that we are people of right, people of dreams, and we love life. We are today… Despite the limited resources we face, and our life amid the destruction and extermination, we continue with sports today, to achieve our dreams, represent our national team and convey our message to the world that we are people of right, the owners of this land, we have dreams and we love sports. We came to play this sport because we love it, we have our dreams and we came simply to deliver our message.” 6. VARIOUS OF PALESTINIAN AMPUTEES COMPETING IN A SOCCER MATCH 7. PLAYER SCORING A GOAL, AS SEEN FROM BEHIND NET 8. AMPUTEE PLAYER WALKING WITH CRUTCH / SOCCER BALL ON THE PITCH 9. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN SOCCER PLAYER, ABDULLAH ABU MUKHAIMER, SAYING: “We, the Palestinian national team, were prevented today (recently) from participating in the World Cup qualifiers due to the closure of the Rafah crossing and the siege on the Gaza Strip. Today, we send a message that we, the Palestinian national team, are still contributing to soccer and that we are still present here.” 10. VARIOUS OF SOCCER MATCH ONGOING 11. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) TECHNICAL MANAGER OF THE PALESTINIAN NATIONAL AMPUTEE SOCCER TEAM, FADI ABU ARMANAH, SAYING: “This championship comes under the title "Hope" to cultivate hope again in a gradual return of the sports life in general, and of the sports life of amputee athletes in particular. This championship brings together more than 50 amputee players, male adults, and more than 10-15 children of both genders. The championship will be organised of several matches, and a prize will be awarded to the winning team at the end of the championship.” 12. VARIOUS OF SOCCER MATCH ONGOING 13. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN SOCCER PLAYER WHO WAS INJURED DURING THE WAR IN GAZA, ANAS AL-MABHOUH, SAYING: "Currently, after my injury, I play for the Deir al-Balah youth team for amputees so that we can hopefully pursue our dreams, continue our lives, and live normally. We aspire to go represent Palestine, and the Palestinian national team, in countries abroad and participate in national teams, play against other national teams, and live our lives like everyone else.” 14. VARIOUS OF PLAYERS GREETING EACH OTHER, CELEBRATING AFTER THE MATCH STORY: Leaning on crutches and adjusting artificial limbs laid out beside the field touchline, dozens of Palestinian amputees gathered in central Gaza on Monday (November 17) for a soccer tournament which they said is about pursuing dreams, love for the sport and conveying a message of hope. Players – some of whom lost limbs as a result of Israeli fire during the latest war in Gaza, according to the organisers – competed in a match in Deir al-Balah, as part of the ‘Hope Championship’. “This championship comes under the title "Hope" to cultivate hope again in a gradual return of the sports life in general, and of the sports life of amputee athletes in particular," Fadi Abu Armanah, the technical manager of the Palestinian national amputee soccer team, said. According to Abu Armanah, more than 50 amputee male athletes, in addition to some 10-15 girls and boys, participate in the championship. Among them is Anas al-Mabhouh, who used to play with a Jabalia soccer team before the war, and has now joined the Deir al-Balah amputee team after sustaining an injury during the early days of the war. "We aspire to go represent Palestine, and the Palestinian national team, in countries abroad and… play against other national teams, and live our lives like everyone else," al-Mabhouh said. The war was triggered by Hamas' cross-border attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 that killed around 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. Two years of intense Israeli bombardment and ground offensives in the Gaza Strip killed more than 69,000 people, according to local health authorities.  Many thousands more have suffered injuries that will change their lives for decades to come. But amid a conflict that has left the medical system barely able to function, estimates for how many Palestinians have lost limbs vary. According to a Gaza health ministry statement from earlier this month, 6,000 amputation cases "requiring urgent, long-term rehabilitation programs" were registered during the war. Israel’s military has said its bombardment of Gaza was necessary to crush Hamas, which it accuses of hiding among the general Palestinian population. Hamas denies this. Israel says it tries to reduce harm to civilians. (Production: Mahmoud Issa, Bassam Masoud, Kinda Makieh)

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