AhlulBayt News Agency: Israeli users have attacked Liverpool star Mohamed Salah after he criticized the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for failing to mention the cause of Suleiman al-Obeid’s death, a Palestinian footballer killed by Israeli forces while seeking aid in Gaza.
Obeid, who was born in Gaza City, was married and had five children. He participated in 24 international matches representing the Palestine team.
According to the Palestine Football Association (PFA), Obeid, 41, was killed by Israeli fire targeting civilians waiting for humanitarian aid in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
EFA published a statement on its X account, mourning Obeid, with the phrase: “Farewell to Suleiman al-Obeid, the ‘Palestinian Pele’.”
“A talent who gave hope to countless children, even in the darkest of times,” read the post.
Liverpool forward Salah responded by posting: “Can you tell us how he died, where, and why?”
Within hours, the post on X had been viewed more than 60 million times.
Israeli settlers attacked Salah for implying that the Tel Aviv regime was responsible for Obeid’s killing and were infuriated as he did not react similarly to the death of Israeli footballer Lior Asulin, who was killed during the Hamas-led Operation Al-Aqsa Storm on October 7, 2023.
They also called on UEFA to publish a message of condolence for Asulin, similar to what it did with the Palestinian player Obeid.
In October 2023, the 33-year-old Egyptian Salah also called on “world leaders to come together” to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza to “prevent further slaughter of innocent souls.”
At least 61,430 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and another 153,213 individuals have been injured in the brutal Israeli onslaught on Gaza since October 7, 2023.
Israel stopped all aid deliveries to Gaza on March 2, after baselessly claiming that Hamas is “diverting aid” to justify its weaponization of food against its 2.3 million civilians.
Under international pressure for pushing the besieged territory to the verge of famine, at the end of May, Israel forced a new model of aid distribution led by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), backed by Israel and the United States, replacing traditional decades-old United Nations aid groups.
Since then, the UN says, more than 1,400 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces while trying to reach food.
UN has repeatedly rejected the current aid distribution as inadequate, dangerous, and a violation of impartiality rules.
The shootings are now a daily occurrence, while starvation and malnutrition deaths continue to climb in the Gaza Strip.
The total death toll due to starvation since October 2023 has exceeded 210, with half of them children.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant, citing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the besieged coastal territory.
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