‘Palestinian Pelé’ Shot Dead by Israeli Forces in Gaza, Football Association Says

Date: 08 August 2025 - 22:24

News ID: ۱۴۲۳۱۸

PARIS (AFP) - Former
Palestine national team player Suleiman al-Obeid, known as the “Palestinian Pelé”, has been killed by Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip, the sport’s local governing body said.
Obeid, 41, was killed Wednesday when Israeli forces “targeted people waiting for humanitarian aid in the southern Gaza Strip”, the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) said in a statement.
With Gaza in the throes of a hunger crisis caused by Israel’s severe restrictions on the amount of humanitarian aid it allows into the besieged territory, the UN rights office said last month that Israeli forces had killed more than 1,300 Palestinians trying to get food aid in the enclave since late May.
Around 12,000 children aged under five in Gaza are suffering from acute malnutrition, and hunger-related deaths are rising, the World Health Organization has said.
An ex-star of the Khadamat Al-Shati club in Gaza, Obeid played 24 international matches for team Palestine, the PFA said.
“During his long career, Al-Obeid scored more than 100 goals, making him one of the brightest stars of Palestinian football,” it added.
The midfielder also played for the Al-Amari Youth Center Club in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.
While living there in 2010, Obeid was among six players on the national team from Gaza who were turned back at the Jordanian border for “security reasons” on their way to a friendly in Mauritania.
Born in Gaza City, Obeid was married and had five children.