Gazans displaced by war watch World Cup from the ruins

GAZA/CAIRO, June 16 : Fadi Al-Arawi, a footballer in the Gaza Strip Premier League, hasn't been able to take the pitch since pro sports were suspended with the outbreak of war more than two years ago. Like most Gazans, he no longer even has a home where he can watch the World Cup on TV.

As Saturday's match between Qatar and Switzerland was about to get under way, he wore his old Gaza Sports Club professional uniform and medals he had picked up at international competitions.

He hovered in the darkness over a flickering laptop, trying to get an internet signal to watch the match with a group of friends in a room in a school converted into a shelter for Gazans displaced by Israel's military campaign.

"See, this is the internet, it's starting to cut out and the match hasn't even started yet," Al-Arawi, 38, told Reuters in Khan Younis as Israeli drones hummed overhead. "Can you hear the drones? We might live or die, we might be bombed."

Much of Gaza was destroyed and its infrastructure heavily damaged during Israel's two-year military assault in the territory, launched after the October 2023 Hamas attacks.

Despite an October 2025 truce, Israel has continued to carry out attacks in Gaza, and Hamas has so far rebuffed calls to lay down its arms in exchange for Israel withdrawing its troops.

'DESPITE EVERYTHING, WE WILL WATCH THE MATCHES'

Nearly the entire population of more than 2 million Palestinians lives in a narrow strip of Hamas-controlled territory along the coast, mainly in tents and damaged buildings.

Alaa Babli, who runs the Royal Cafe in Gaza City, installed two alternative power lines and a backup battery to ensure late-night matches can still be screened once fuel-powered generators shut down after midnight.

Hani Abu Rizq,