Gaza fans watch World Cup screenings in tribute to organiser killed in Israeli strike

Football fans in Gaza gathered around giant screens to watch the World Cup in tribute to Mohammad al-Waheidi, a senior Palestinian logistics official with Egypt’s main aid organisation, who was killed in an Israeli strike in the Sabra neighbourhood of Gaza City on Tuesday. Three others died alongside him, including two young siblings aged 10 and 8 who were passing by, according to medics.

Waheidi had worked to bring World Cup screenings to displaced Palestinians sheltering in tents and damaged buildings across the enclave, which has been devastated by more than two years of war. His son Fawaz told Reuters by phone: “My father worked hard to bring some entertainment to the people, to the displaced, to us and everyone who suffers in Gaza. He tried to bring them the matches close to their tents and wrecked shelters.”

The screenings drew thousands of fans, many of whom cheered for the Egyptian team — a popular choice among Arab supporters — before Argentina knocked Egypt out of the tournament.

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights identified the fourth victim as 30-year-old Ahmed Jehad Rajab Doghmosh, who was also in the vehicle at the time of the strike. No Palestinian militant group claimed any of those killed that day as a member.

The Israeli military said it had struck a Hamas militant and was aware of claims that uninvolved individuals were killed. It did not respond to a query about the identity of the alleged militant.

Two Egyptian security sources said Waheidi held a logistics role at the Egyptian government’s relief arm operating in Gaza. A senior Egyptian official subsequently raised his death with Israel, expressing opposition to what the sources described as a continued policy of assassinations and any obstruction of the committee’s work.

On Wednesday, Waheidi’s body was wrapped in Palestinian and Egyptian flags at a funeral attended by hundreds of mourners before burial. Neighbours and friends visited his home throughout the day to pay their respects.

Nearly the entire population of Gaza — approximately two million people, most displaced multiple times — now lives along a narrow coastal strip in makeshift tents or damaged buildings. Fawaz said his father had found the work exhausting but was driven by a desire to help those uprooted by the conflict.