The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) told Fox News Digital it has identified individuals publicly described as Palestinian soccer players, referees and coaches whom the military alleges also served in Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Those statements are presented by the IDF as an intelligence-based rebuttal to claims that Israel has deliberately targeted members of the sports community; independent verification of the IDF’s assertions is not provided in this report.
Palestinian soccer players
What the IDF says
The IDF told Fox News Digital that, after an intelligence assessment, it can disclose the organizational affiliations and operational roles of certain people who had been presented internationally as athletes. The military characterized a publicity campaign that labeled some deceased individuals as “players” or other civilians as false, saying in some cases those people were operatives.
The IDF describes these findings as its assessment and frames the disclosure as a corrective to what it calls misleading narratives. This article labels those statements as allegations from the IDF and notes the lack of independent corroboration here; verification would require third-party investigation, documentation or publicly produced evidence from neutral monitors.
Who the IDF named as Palestinian soccer players
The IDF provided a list of 11 people it says had been presented publicly as members of the soccer community but were linked, according to the military, to militant groups. Reporting their names below follows the IDF’s release; the characterization of their affiliations and roles is described by the IDF and is therefore presented as allegation:
- Mohammed Mohammed Hassan Barakat
- Mahmoud Kamal Mohammad Ali Al-Rifi
- Mohammed Mansour
- Ahmed Mohammed Hassan Abu Al-Atta
- Abdullah Riyadh Abdullah Khattab
- Ali Mahmoud Ahmed Al-Kurd
- Mohammad Emad Ata Hussouna
- Tariq Ziad Hussein Al-Hour
- Mohammed Ziad Hussein Al-Hour
- Mahmoud Osama Al-Jazzar
- Mohammad Nidal Mohammed Al-Hawajri
The IDF states that three of the named individuals were allegedly involved in the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, and it describes others as having roles in operations or leadership positions. Those specific claims are the IDF’s allegations and have not been independently verified in this article.
Claims, limits, and competing figures
The announcement arrives amid competing tallies and narratives about the toll on the athletic community. The Palestinian Football Association (PFA) has reported substantial losses — the PFA, via reporting cited by Al Jazeera, put the number at about 1,009 members killed since the conflict began in October 2023. That figure is the PFA’s reported toll and is presented here as such.
Human-rights organizations, independent monitors and journalists emphasize the difficulty of verifying individual cases in active conflict zones. Where the IDF asserts a person was a militant, independent confirmation usually requires forensic evidence, witness testimony, documentation of membership or activity, or findings from neutral investigators. Several rights groups have urged transparent, third-party inquiries to clarify circumstances of specific deaths.
FIFA and international sports reaction
The dispute has spilled into international sports governance. The PFA has lobbied FIFA and other bodies to suspend Israel from competition, citing deaths and infrastructure damage to the sports community. FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee reviewed PFA demands but rejected a full suspension.
Instead, FIFA imposed measures on the Israel Football Association, issuing a fine of 150,000 Swiss francs and ordering the IFA to implement an anti-discrimination prevention plan. FIFA also instructed that a banner reading “Football Unites the World – No to Discrimination” be shown during specified matches. FIFA framed these measures as disciplinary steps related to discrimination rules rather than direct adjudication of the IDF’s recent allegations.
Background
For several years the PFA, led by Jibril Rajoub, has pressed international sports bodies over alleged wrongs against Palestinian athletes. That campaign intensified after Oct. 7, 2023, and has included diplomatic appeals, filings at FIFA and sustained public messaging aimed at keeping sports bodies focused on protections for athletes and civilians.
Why it matters
How these competing claims are resolved matters for sports diplomacy and for wider public messaging in the conflict. If individuals presented as athletes are proven to have been militants, that could affect assessments of specific military operations and public narratives about targeting. Conversely, if athletes or sports personnel are being killed while clearly noncombatant, international sports bodies and human-rights monitors may escalate calls for protections and potential sanctions.
The immediate practical implications include pressure on FIFA and other federations to adopt verification mechanisms, on national associations to cooperate with impartial inquiries, and on governments and humanitarian groups to prioritize transparent fact-finding. For families and sporting communities, unresolved allegations can deepen mistrust and complicate efforts to document losses and seek redress.
What comes next
Expect continued scrutiny from international sports bodies, human-rights monitors and independent journalists. Possible next steps include requests for independent fact-finding missions, legal or disciplinary appeals at FIFA, and further documentation from national associations. The IFA must implement FIFA’s required anti-discrimination measures and could face additional sanctions if it fails to comply.
The IDF’s release of names may be followed by attempts to present supporting evidence to international authorities; the PFA and other parties are likely to press for third-party investigation of disputed cases. Readers should anticipate that comprehensive independent verification, when it occurs, may take time and may produce more detailed publicly available reports.
FAQ
Were the IDF claims independently verified?
No. The assertions that listed individuals served in militant groups are reported here as the IDF’s allegations. Independent verification would require third-party investigation, which is not provided in this article.
How did FIFA respond to the PFA complaints?
FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee rejected the PFA’s demand to suspend Israel from competition. Instead it fined the Israel Football Association 150,000 Swiss francs, required an anti-discrimination prevention plan and ordered display of a banner reading “Football Unites the World – No to Discrimination.”
How many athletic community deaths has the PFA reported?
The PFA reported, via Al Jazeera, that about 1,009 members of its athletic community had been killed since October 2023. That number is the association’s reported figure and is presented here as such.
Source attribution: Fox News Digital reporting — IDF says Palestinian soccer players it targeted served Hamas and Jihad terror groups. For the PFA casualty figure cited by the PFA, see reporting at Al Jazeera: Al Jazeera. For FIFA’s public disciplinary information, see FIFA. Fox News Digital also reported it reached out to the Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine to the United Nations for comment.
