While countries around the world are peacefully coming together and celebrating the global sport of soccer with the World Cup, one Palestinian professional soccer player who dreamed of one day playing in the World Cup lost his life before the birth of his first child while trying to care for his family.
According to multiple outlets, 32-year-old Palestinian professional goalkeeper Saleem al-Ashqar was killed by Israeli fire while trying to secure a cooking gas cylinder for his family in southern Gaza, leaving behind his wife, who was pregnant with their first child.
Al Jazeera reports that al-Ashqar set out on a motorcycle to search for a cooking gas cylinder, but he was shot and killed by Israeli forces in the town of al-Qarara, northeast of Khan Younis, southern Gaza. The Palestine Football ****** ociation shared that al-Ashqar was struck in the abdomen and rushed to the hospital, where he died of his injuries hours later.
"He went out like any other young man, just trying to provide a gas cylinder for his wife and family, but the treacherous bullets of the occupation struck him," his uncle, Captain Farid al-Ashqar, a member of the PFA referees committee who had helped raise Saleem, told Al Jazeera.
Al-Ashqar spent his professional career playing for three clubs in the Gaza Strip, representing Al-Aqsa Sports Club and Al-Masdar Sports Club previously before last playing for Khadamat Khan Younis.
According to multiple outlets, 32-year-old Palestinian professional goalkeeper Saleem al-Ashqar was killed by Israeli fire while trying to secure a cooking gas cylinder for his family in southern Gaza, leaving behind his wife, who was pregnant with their first child.
Al Jazeera reports that al-Ashqar set out on a motorcycle to search for a cooking gas cylinder, but he was shot and killed by Israeli forces in the town of al-Qarara, northeast of Khan Younis, southern Gaza. The Palestine Football ****** ociation shared that al-Ashqar was struck in the abdomen and rushed to the hospital, where he died of his injuries hours later.
"He went out like any other young man, just trying to provide a gas cylinder for his wife and family, but the treacherous bullets of the occupation struck him," his uncle, Captain Farid al-Ashqar, a member of the PFA referees committee who had helped raise Saleem, told Al Jazeera.
Al-Ashqar spent his professional career playing for three clubs in the Gaza Strip, representing Al-Aqsa Sports Club and Al-Masdar Sports Club previously before last playing for Khadamat Khan Younis.
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