Football Returns To Palestine After Three Years, Named For 1,014 Fallen Players

For the first time in almost three years, football is being played again in Palestine. Over 200 clubs from the West Bank, Gaza, and Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon have gone back to playing organized matches, as Khabaree.com first reported. This is happening despite an ongoing war, military checkpoints, and stadiums that have been destroyed.

Quick Facts

• No major club football tournaments held in Palestine since October 2023
• New tournament is called the "Thousand Martyrs Cup"
• Held in September at Al-Khader Stadium, near Bethlehem
• Named to honor 1,014 players killed since October 2023
• More than 200 clubs now playing again across the West Bank, Gaza, and refugee camps in Lebanon
• Around 90% of stadiums in Gaza have been destroyed, says the Palestine Football Association (PFA)
• National team forward Suleiman Al-Obeid was killed in 2025 while waiting for aid in Gaza
• Olympic team coach Hani Al-Masdar was killed in 2024

Why The Games Stopped And Why They're Back

Football in Palestine had gone silent since the Israel-Gaza war started. Firas Abu Hilal, Secretary-General of the PFA, says checkpoints, movement restrictions, attacks on sports facilities, and arrests of players and officials all played a part. Some football pitches in Gaza are now being used as shelters for displaced families instead.

Even so, the PFA decided the game had to go on. Abu Hilal put it simply: "We have returned because we want to prove to the world that we are people who deserve to live too." The opening night of the Thousand Martyrs Cup brought a small taste of ordinary life back. Fans sang in the stands, families watched from the sidelines, and kids ran around the edge of the pitch while Arab Orthodox Beit Jala took on Dheisheh Youth.

There was one scary moment during the first half, when a commotion broke out outside the stadium. Player Caesar Saras, 20, said he feared it was an Israeli military operation. It turned out to just be a small argument between fans, and the match carried on. For 15-year-old Rimas Sarhan from Aida refugee camp, just having a crowd there again meant something. "Such an atmosphere makes us feel like we are living a normal life for some time, just like people abroad," she said.

Players Are Still Fighting To Stay In The Game

Getting football back doesn't mean the problems are gone. The PFA has grouped nearby clubs together for matches to cut down on travel in the West Bank, but military checkpoints can shut without warning and stop teams from reaching a game. Abu Hilal says that means matches sometimes get delayed, but never canceled. "The game must happen, and we must play," he said. You can read more in Khabaree.com's original coverage of the story.

Money is also a huge issue. Clubs can't pay their players anymore, so many who used to be professionals are now playing as amateurs, and some careers have simply stopped. Dheisheh player and local coach Mohammed Al-Zghaeri knows this struggle well. He spent over eight years in an Israeli prison, and a soldier's bullet broke his leg in 2015, keeping him out of football for two years. "I had lost all hope," he said. But he came back to training and kept playing. "There's no place to surrender. We want to resist, to live, and move forward by holding onto hope," he added.

Fields Under Threat

The AOD Sports Academy field in Aida refugee camp sits right next to Israel's separation wall and watchtowers, and residents say military operations happen often there. A player who goes by Karim, 20, didn't want his real name used for safety reasons, but he said this kind of environment weighs on players' minds.

The field itself has faced a demolition order too. Israel issued the order late in 2025, and it was put on hold after pressure from FIFA, UEFA, and the international community. But the local AOD Youth Center says the threat hasn't been fully lifted. With almost no open space in the camp, this field is one of the only places kids get to run around and just breathe for a bit. It's also where 15-year-old Fatima Lutfi has been pushing back against the idea that girls shouldn't play football. "I broke the rule that football is not for girls," she said.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did Palestinian football stop for three years?
The war, checkpoints, movement restrictions, and destroyed stadiums made it impossible to run regular club tournaments after October 2023.

What is the Thousand Martyrs Cup?
It's a new tournament named after the 1,014 football players who died since October 2023. It kicked off in September at Al-Khader Stadium near Bethlehem.

Is it safe for players to get to matches now?
Not fully. Military checkpoints can close roads without warning, so games sometimes get postponed. The PFA says they'll never be canceled outright.