JABALIA, PALESTINE: In a makeshift stadium in the war-torn Gaza Strip, a young player and goalkeeper block out the noisy crowd and focus solely on their game.
As the referee blows his whistle and the penalty taker shoots the ball into the makeshift goal, the crowd rushes in and creates a wild celebration.
For fans and players, Tuesday's match at the Jabalia refugee camp was a welcome respite from the hunger and fatigue of nearly 300 days of war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Referee Rami Mustafa Abu Hashishi told AFP that football had helped “restore signs of life” in Jabalia, a city devastated by Israeli bombing and fighting that destroyed schools, stadiums and homes and uprooted families on several occasions.
In the school courtyard that had been converted into a shelter, the two teams competed for a trophy that had been salvaged from the rubble. According to one player, the trophy was salvaged from the rubble.
The game had a festive atmosphere, with spectators pulling out chairs and leaning against the railings of the three-story stadium to cheer.
A group of boys sit on the back of an empty truck to get a better view.
“We will play despite our hunger and thirst. We will compete because we love life,” one child’s sign read in English and Arabic.
Jabalia has been particularly hard hit by the Israeli offensive that began in May, part of a fierce campaign sweeping across northern Gaza. The Israeli military has previously said the area is out of Hamas militants' control.
As fighting intensifies, humanitarian agencies are struggling to deliver aid and are warning of a looming famine.
Residents told AFP there was little food left in the north and what food was delivered to them came at an astronomical cost.
For the football players, the match offered a rare respite from worries about food and water shortages.
Israel has not played a single football match since the war broke out on October 7, sparked by Hamas attacks that have killed 1,197 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
The militants also took 251 hostages, 116 of whom remain in Gaza, and the army said 44 of them were killed.
According to the health ministry in Hamas-ruled areas, Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 39,145 Palestinians, most of them civilians.
“Since the war in Gaza, we have been away from sports. All the clubs were destroyed, all the playgrounds were destroyed. But today we have created something out of nothing,” said Saif Abu Saif, one of the players.
The Gaza Department of Education said 85 percent of educational facilities in the area were unusable due to the war.
With 2.4 million people living in the besieged area uprooted and forced to flee multiple times, many places have been converted into shelters for war-torn refugees.
Coach Wael Abu Saif said he was determined to attend Tuesday's game despite still suffering from injuries sustained in the February attack. He said he is now in a wheelchair and has lost the use of both his legs.
“I've loved football since I was little. I love tournaments and I love playing,” he told AFP.
“I want to prove to the world that we are continuing to make progress on the most basic right to play football.”
