Lamine Yamal waving a Palestinian flag during Barcelona’s La Liga-winning bus parade has prompted strong reactions from inside Israel and Gaza.
Yamal’s gesture came during Barcelona’s celebrations on Monday, as the team rode an open-top bus through the streets of the Catalan capital lined with an estimated 750,000 supporters.
Images and videos of Yamal waving the flag were quickly picked up on social media and reproduced in outlets worldwide. Sources close to the Spain international, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment, told The Athletic the day after the celebrations that waving the flag had been a spontaneous act.
Sources said Yamal, who is a practising Muslim, has strong feelings about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and that he has never shied away from using his platform to express his beliefs. In interviews, Yamal has spoken about the importance of his faith, explaining how he balances the month-long fast during Ramadan with being a professional sportsperson. In March, Yamal was also outspoken against Spanish national team fans using anti-Muslim chants when the side played Egypt.
On Thursday, Israeli defence minister Israel Katz published a post on X, in Spanish, accusing the 18-year-old of inciting hatred against Israel and Jewish people, calling on the club to distance itself from the actions of its player.
“Lamine Yamal chose to incite hatred against Israel while our soldiers are fighting the terrorist organization Hamas, an organization that massacred, raped, burned, and murdered Jewish children, women, and the elderly on October 7th,” wrote Katz, who did not expand upon how Yamal incited hatred beyond waving the flag.
“Anyone who supports this kind of message must ask themselves: Do they consider this humanitarian? Is this moral? As Minister of Defence of the State of Israel, I will not remain silent in the face of incitement against Israel and the Jewish people.
“I hope that a large and respected club like FC Barcelona will distance itself from these statements and make it unequivocally clear that there is no place for incitement or support of terrorism.”
Yamal, 18, is one of soccer’s biggest stars and will likely feature for Spain at the World Cup (Laia Cervello Herrero/The Athletic)
The Spanish President, Pedro Sanchez, responded on Thursday evening with a post of X of his own in which he insisted: “Those who consider waving the flag of a State to be “inciting hatred” have either lost their judgment or been blinded by their own ignominy.
“Lamine has only expressed the solidarity with Palestine felt by millions of Spaniards. Another reason to be proud of him.”
Quienes consideran que ondear la bandera de un Estado es “incitar al odio”, o han perdido el juicio o han sido cegados por su propia ignominia.
Lamine solo ha expresado la solidaridad por Palestina que sentimos millones de españoles. Otro motivo más para estar orgullosos de él.
— Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) May 14, 2026
A mural of Yamal waving the flag has been painted in an area of Gaza which has suffered much devastation during the current stage of the long-running conflict in the region.
“I worked on this painting after the player Lamine Yamal raised the flag of Palestine at a huge celebration that the whole world saw,” Palestinian artist Ubay al-Qurshali told Reuters. “We want to thank the player Lamine Yamal for what he did. He risked his career, he risked his playing and he risked his future, (but) he didn’t care and he supported the Palestinian cause.”
The official account for the Palestinian mission to the United Nations shared a photo of Yamal waving the flag, taken by Catalan sports newspaper Mundo Deportivo, to its 440,000 followers on X.
The Palestine Football Association also posted a message online thanking Yamal.
Desde Palestina… gracias, Lamine Yamal 🙏🇵🇸 pic.twitter.com/odkvnfgidj
— Palestine Football Association (@Palestine_fa) May 12, 2026
On October 7, 2023, thousands of Palestinian militants crossed from Gaza and attacked southern Israel, killing roughly 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials. Since then, more than 70,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict, Gaza’s health ministry said last month.
Yamal’s representatives were approached for comment on Katz’s post.
A club official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment, said they were aware of the criticism which came from the Israeli government, and understood the sensitivities and emotions involved. The club also maintained that Yamal had not made a political statement on behalf of the organization, nor was he attempting to send a message directed against any community, country or people.