The ‘Pele’ of Palestinian football hoped to continue to score goals until he was 50. An Israeli tank shell touched that dream for ten years, his family said, killing Suleiman al-Opid when he stood in line in southern Gaza this week to collect food.
Obeid’s widow Doaa al-Obeid now grabs the Blauw-Wit number 10 Shorts that he wore for his Gaza club, Al-Shati, one of the few mushrooms she has from her deceased husband, while she and her five children mourn the respected 41-year-old striker.
«This is the most precious thing that he is left behind,» she said.
The family has few other possessions of Obeid, whose house was destroyed in a bombing earlier this year. It now lives in a tent between the ruins of a Gaza City district.
Occidental by fans with Brazilian great Pele for his skills and goals, this week made the headlines after Liverpool attacker Mohamed Salah criticized a tribute to Obeid by Europe’s administrative body UEFA that did not mention the cause of death.
Read also | Salah criticizes UEFA -Teston on ‘Palestinian Pele’, asks for details about his death
«Can you tell us how he died, where and why?» wrote Salah.
The Palestinian football club said that Obeid was killed in an attack by the Israeli army in southern Gaza while waiting to collect help at a distribution point.
His family said it was a tank shell that killed him.
The Israeli army did not immediately respond to a request for comments and has not publicly commented on the death of Obeid.
Obeid, who had played for the Palestinian national team, still played for his club in Gaza when the war between Israel and Hamas started in October 2023.
Obeid continued to play during the hardships, said his widow Doaa. | Photocredit: Reuters
Obeid continued to play during the hardships, said his widow Doaa. | Photocredit: Reuters
Hamas attacked Israeli towns and villages that kill more than 1,200 people. Israel in response wasted the Gaza Strip, a coast of more than 2 million people, and killed around 61,000 Palestinians.
Most were killed by air strikes, artillery and gunfire, but a growing number of people hunger to death.
‘This player was a Gazelle’
Obeid continued to play during the hardships, said his widow Doaa.
«He used to train every day and never stopped, not a single day. Even during the war crisis, in the midst of rockets, shelling and mass murder, he would play. He gathered his friends and loved ones and started playing with them,» she said.
The Palestinian football club says that hundreds of athletes and sports officials are one of those killed by the attack of Israel, where most sports facilities have now been destroyed.
Read also | German club defends itself to withdraw from buying the Israeli player Shon Weissman about his Gaza posts
Palestinian football fans say they will not concentrate on Obeid’s violent death, but on his estate.
«Children called him the Henry and Pele of Palestine,» said Hassan Al-Balawi, a hairdresser in Gaza City, in a comparison also with the French Great Thierry Henry.
«This player was a Gazelle – when we stepped up the field, we enjoyed looking at him. All Palestinian football fans enjoyed Captain Suleiman Al -Beid.»
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(742x430:744x432)/Shea-Ryan-manhole-080725-9aca9565c3b64204ab91b22a2f4d3609.jpg?w=238&resize=238,178&ssl=1 "Boy, de 10 años, murió en una caída de 20 pies en un agujero de hombre. La muerte ahora determinó prevenible")
