IDF Says Gaza Soccer Players Presented to the World as Athletes Were Also Terror Operatives

The IDF spokesperson revealed today (Wednesday) that Gaza soccer players who were presented to the world as athletes only were also terror operatives in terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip.

The IDF response was published after claims have spread in recent weeks alleging that the IDF deliberately harmed innocent Palestinian soccer players throughout the war. Against the backdrop of those claims, the IDF disclosed that Palestinian soccer players, referees, and coaches, who were presented as athletes and innocent civilians, were in fact operatives in Hamas’s military wing and in Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and were killed by the IDF during the war.

According to the IDF, "Following intelligence analysis, it is now possible to reveal the organizational affiliation and roles of the operatives, even though in many cases they were presented to the world only as soccer players, without any mention of their affiliation with terrorist organizations. The false campaign portraying the IDF as having deliberately attacked soccer figures, which was part of an effort promoted by various actors against the State of Israel, stands alongside other false campaigns advanced during the war, in which Palestinian operatives killed by the IDF were presented throughout the war as journalists, aid organization workers, and other professionals, while their involvement in terrorist activity was concealed, in order to promote false claims that these individuals were attacked because of their 'civilian' profession".

The list of player-operatives released by the IDF includes: Muhammad Barakat — soccer player — a Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative who infiltrated Israel on October 7; Mahmoud Kamal Muhammad Ali Al-Rifi — soccer player — a company commander in the aerial array of Hamas’s military wing; Muhammad Mansour — soccer player and coach — deputy commander of the Nuseirat Battalion in Hamas’s military wing, who infiltrated Israel on October 7; Ahmad Muhammad Hassan Abu Al-Ata — soccer player — a platoon commander in Palestinian Islamic Jihad; Abdullah Riyad Abdullah Khattab — soccer player — an operative in Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s anti-tank array.

Also on the list are Muhammad Sami Muhammad Khattab — international FIFA referee — a Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative in the central camps; Ali Mahmoud Ahmad Al-Kurd — soccer player and coach — a platoon commander in Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Rafah; Muhammad Imad Ata Hassouna — soccer player — an operative in Hamas’s military wing who infiltrated Israeli territory on October 7; Tarek Ziad Hussein Al-Hour — soccer player — an operative in Hamas’s military wing; Muhammad Ziad Hussein Al-Hour — soccer player — a platoon commander in Hamas’s military wing in Nuseirat; Mahmoud Osama Al-Jazar — soccer player — an operative in Palestinian Islamic Jihad; and Muhammad Nidal Muhammad Al-Hawajri — soccer player — a commander in Hamas’s military wing in Nuseirat.

Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar responded to the IDF spokesperson’s announcement: "The IDF revealed today that Gaza terrorists were presented as soccer players in order to portray the State of Israel as violating the ethical code. The cynical use by the Hamas terrorist organization of this tactic, in order to win sympathy from the world, is nothing less than disgraceful. Especially among those who buy into it. I call on FIFA to condemn these actions and to retract all the statements that were previously made against Israel".