3-foot, 7-inch Gaza footballer recounts challenges of watching World Cup games amid strikes

As millions across the world celebrate the football World Cup, one region remains cut off from the festivities. 

With ongoing military attacks, intermittent access to electricity and infrastructure that has been all but devastated by a brutal war, Palestinian football fans in Gaza try to watch the ongoing tournament with an air of fear and sobriety. 

The situation is especially severe for those with disabilities. 

Haitham Al-Saqqa, a 38-year-old footballer and humanitarian worker with Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAp), told The Independent of the life-changing impact that the war has had on his life and his ability to enjoy his passion of football. 

Having set up Palestine’s first national football team for people of short stature, he searched across Gaza for players and made his dream of becoming a footballer a reality. 

At three foot seven inches, he identifies as a person of short stature (of which there around 400 conditions) but he is unable to name his specific condition as there are no genetic tests of the kind that could help in Gaza. 

But when the war broke out in October 2023, his dreams of travelling abroad for tournaments was shattered. Amid the devastation the group were unable to travel to Morocco for a regional tournament and several members were killed in Israeli strikes. 

Two of his teammates from the national team, Ahmed Awad and Salah Shaalan, were killed along with their entire families in northern Gaza during the war. There were others too including Dr Adnan Al-Bursh, an orthopaedic surgeon and member of the Palestinian Football Association, who was killed during the war. 

Haitham himself witnessed people killed as he tried to watch a Champions League match in November 2023. The old football stadium they played in is now a displacement shelter. 

“Their loss affected me profoundly,” he said. “They were friends, teammates, and partners in a dream we had spent time building together.” 

Too occupied with survival 

Since the deaths of his friends and teammates Ahmed and Salah, he has tried to bring the old team together, but he says people are too occupied with the struggle to survive, which is especially hard for those with disabilities. 

“My home is not far from the yellow line, it’s less than one kilometre,” he explains about the deadly zone that has led to the deaths of several Palestinians. “This makes us afraid to walk in the street, especially at night after 9pm when the matches are starting. I’m afraid to go to the cafe or restaurant to watch the games with my friends. If I do decide to watch one, the electricity regularly cuts out.” 

Haitham, a Liverpool, Real Madrid, and Al Ahly Egypt fan, has been able to watch 20 games using a mixture of methods. But the father-of-three refuses to allow his son to join him. Since the ceasefire, over 1,000 Palestinians have been killed, creating a climate of terror among civilians who fear they could be next. Last week, one of Haitham’s neighbours was also killed. 

'My son pleads, I want to watch a match. But I can't do that' 

 As the UN concluded this week that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza by deliberately and “intentionally” killing Palestinian children, Haitham fears his four-year-old son may not be spared. Israel denies claims of genocide and insists its military operates within the bounds of international law. 

“My son, Nahedh begs me: ‘Please I want to go with you, I want to watch a match.’ But I can’t do that. I tell him we can stay home and watch the summary on YouTube if the electricity keeps up,” he explains. “Because, to be honest, I’m afraid to lose him on the outside. We may still get killed in our home, but I would feel worse if they went out and it happened.” 

The fears are real, with footage shared in The Guardian showing the moment an Israeli strike hit a children’s school in the middle of a football match. And it is not the first time. In 2015, nine Palestinians watching a World Cup match in a cafe were killed in Israeli strikes. 

With up to 92 per cent of all infrastructure destroyed in Gaza, Haitham says children regularly play in the rubble, painting goal posts on to wreckage, and have been injured as a result. 

Before the war, he describes feelings of festivities around the World Cup with streets decorated with flags and cafes packed with people. 

Occasionally, when people are able to break through the tight Israeli control that restricts free movement in and out of Gaza, Haitham says that the news of football and the outside world are much welcomed. 

”During the war there were small moments of humanity that reminded us of our connection to the outside world,” he says. “Doctors and colleagues who came to Gaza spoke with us not only about war and suffering, but also about football and life. 

Liverpool shirt signed by Salah strikes a chord 

“One moment I will never forget was when a friend brought me a Liverpool shirt signed by Salah. It may seem like a small gesture, but it meant a great deal to me. It reminded me that our friends from outside Gaza still saw us as human beings with things to love and cheer about, not just as victims of war.” 

Haitham says his dream is very simple: “My hope is to go outside in any stadium and to watch and to play football.” 

He says he wants his family, which includes his wife Besan, four-year-old twins including a son and daughter, and older eight-year-old daughter, his parents and siblings, to be safe. He hopes his children can get suitable healthcare and a proper education. 

“Football is not just a game to me. It is part of who I am. It has always been a source of hope, belonging and joy,” he says. “I want to enjoy the World Cup like the rest of the world. It is time to show Israel the red card.” 

Rohan Talbot, MAP's director of advocacy and campaigns where Haitham works, said: “Our colleagues, such as Haitham, shouldn't have to deliver humanitarian aid under bombardment. What we're seeing in Gaza right now is a 'ceasefire' in name only,” 

“Palestinians continue to be killed in Israeli military attacks, and aid restrictions mean hospitals are still dangerously short of supplies and power. The UK government cannot claim to support a ceasefire while failing to take any meaningful action to enforce it.” 

The Independent