Rania R.a. Abushamala<\/p>\n
02 July 2026\u2022Update: 02 July 2026<\/p>\n
Palestinian goalkeeper Salim Khader Al-Ashqar was killed by Israeli fire while trying to secure a cooking gas cylinder for his family in southern Gaza, becoming the latest athlete killed in Israel\u2019s war on the enclave.<\/p>\n
Ashqar, 32, who plays for Khadamat Khan Younis Club, did not leave home in search of a football match or tournament, but to obtain cooking gas for his small family as his wife awaits their first child. <\/p>\n
His journey on a motorcycle through the al-Qarara area, northeast of Khan Younis, ended with Israeli gunfire, adding his name to the growing list of Palestinian athletes killed since the war began on Oct. 8, 2023. <\/p>\n
A medical source told Anadolu that Ashqar died Tuesday from wounds sustained after Israeli forces opened fire while he was passing through the area. <\/p>\n
Searching for cooking gas <\/p>\n
Residents of Gaza continue to suffer from severe shortages of cooking gas due to Israeli restrictions on supplies entering the enclave. Limited quantities arrive through a small number of trucks, falling far short of demand. <\/p>\n
Many Palestinians are forced to travel long distances to obtain gas cylinders from distributors across Gaza, while others rely on firewood, plastic, and paper for cooking despite the serious health risks. <\/p>\n
Mustafa Siam, secretary-general of the Palestinian Sports Media Union, said Ashqar was heading to al-Qarara \u201cin an attempt to secure gas for his family\u201d when Israeli tanks stationed in the area opened fire directly at him.<\/p>\n
Siam told Anadolu that Ashqar suffered critical injuries and was taken to a hospital, but severe shortages of medical resources, blood units, and urgent surgical intervention prevented doctors from saving his life. <\/p>\n
Family tragedy <\/p>\n
Siam said Ashqar leaves behind a pregnant wife awaiting their first child. <\/p>\n
He was also the only son of his parents among seven sisters, deepening the tragedy for his family. <\/p>\n
On Tuesday, the Palestine Football Association mourned Ashqar, saying he had represented several clubs in Gaza, including Khadamat Khan Younis, Al-Aqsa, and Al-Masdar, and was known as one of the strip\u2019s prominent goalkeepers in local tournaments. <\/p>\n
With Ashqar\u2019s death, the number of Palestinian sports figures killed since the war began has risen to 1,009, including 567 members of the football community, players, coaches, referees, and administrators, according to Siam. <\/p>\n
He said the figure reflects the \u201cheavy losses suffered by the Palestinian sports sector,\u201d alongside the destruction of numerous stadiums and sports facilities during the war. <\/p>\n
Mounting losses <\/p>\n
Siam said Palestinian athletes are \u201cpaying the price of war like all other civilians.\u201d <\/p>\n
He criticized what he described as \u201cinternational silence\u201d over the targeting of Palestinian sports figures. <\/p>\n
Siam said international sports bodies, including FIFA and the International Olympic Committee, \u201chave not taken practical steps to stop violations against the Palestinian sports community.\u201d <\/p>\n
He called on those institutions to fulfill their responsibilities in protecting athletes and sports facilities in line with international conventions. <\/p>\n
Despite a ceasefire agreement that took effect in October 2025, Israeli violations through continued strikes and blockade have persisted, worsening Gaza\u2019s humanitarian and health crisis. <\/p>\n
According to Gaza\u2019s Health Ministry, Israeli violations of the ceasefire had killed 1,059 Palestinians and injured 3,429 others as of Thursday. <\/p>\n
More than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 173,000 injured since the start of Israeli genocide in Gaza, with widespread destruction affecting 90% of the enclave\u2019s civilian infrastructure, according to official Gaza data. <\/p>\n
*Writing by Rania Abushamala in Istanbul<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rania R.a. Abushamala 02 July 2026\u2022Update: 02 July 2026 Palestinian goalkeeper Salim Khader Al-Ashqar was killed by Israeli…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":522614,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85,46,43,180804],"class_list":["post-522613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-news","tag-sitekeywords"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=522613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522613\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/522614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=522613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=522613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=522613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}