An Israeli airstrike on the Gaza Strip has killed Hani al-Masdar, who coached Palestine’s Olympic football team.
In a statement released on its website on Saturday, the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) announced that Masdar, 42, lost his life in an Israeli aerial assault on the village of al-Masdar in central Gaza.
He previously played as a midfielder for al-Maghazi and Gaza Sports clubs before retiring in 2018 and coaching the Palestinian national team, the PFA said.
Since the beginning of the Israeli onslaught on Gaza, “88 athletes in team and individual sports, including 67 football players were killed. Additionally, 24 officials from managerial and technical staff lost their lives due to Israel’s strikes on Gaza,” it added.
Israel waged the genocidal war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement carried out a historic operation against the occupying entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.
So far, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 22,722 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 58,166 others.
Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under the rubble in the Gaza Strip, which is under “complete siege” by Israel.
