JABALIYA, Palestinian Territories: On an improvised pitch in war-torn Gaza, a young player and goalkeeper fend off a raging crowd and focus solely on soccer.
The referee blew his whistle and the penalty taker kicked the ball into the makeshift goal, with the crowd celebrating wildly as he hung up.
For fans and players alike, Tuesday's game at the Jablia refugee camp was a welcome distraction from the hunger and exhaustion endured in the nearly 300 days of the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
Referee Rami Mustafa Abu Hashis told AFP that football had helped “restore a semblance of life” to Jabaliya, which has been devastated by Israeli bombardment and fighting that has destroyed schools, stadiums and homes and uprooted families many times.
In the courtyard of the school-turned-shelter, two sides battled for the trophy, one player said had been rescued from the wreckage.
The match created a festive atmosphere with spectators pulling out chairs and leaning on the railings of the three-storey compound to cheer.
A group of boys packed into an empty lorry bed for a better view.
“We will play despite hunger and thirst, we will compete because we love life,” read a child's sign in both English and Arabic.
Jabalia was hit particularly hard by an Israeli offensive launched in May, part of a wider campaign in northern Gaza – an area the military previously said was beyond the control of Hamas rebels.
As the fighting rages, humanitarian agencies struggle to deliver aid and warn of starvation.
Residents told AFP that there is little food left in the north, and what little does get to them comes at an astronomical cost.
For footballers, the game provided a rare reprieve from worries about food and water shortages.
They have been unable to play since the outbreak of war on October 7, which killed 1,197 people in Israel, according to AFP figures based on Israeli official figures.
The militants also took 251 hostages, including 116 in Gaza, killing 44, the military said.
Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 39,145 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to the Hamas-ruled territory's health ministry.
“Since the war in the Gaza Strip, we stayed away from sports because all the clubs were destroyed, all the playgrounds were destroyed, but today, we made something from nothing,” said Saif Abu Saif, a player.
Gaza's Ministry of Education says 85 percent of educational facilities in the territory are out of service due to the war.
Many have been turned into shelters for war displaced people as the encircled Strip's 2.4 million people have been uprooted several times.
Coach Weil Abu Saif said he was determined to attend Tuesday's game despite suffering from injuries sustained in the February attack. Now sitting in a wheelchair, he said he has lost the use of both legs.
“I love football from a young age, I love the competition, I love to play,” he told AFP.
“I want to prove to the whole world … that we go forward with our most basic right, which is to play football.”
