Israel Kills Organiser of Gaza World Cup Screenings Right Before Egypt Game
Two children also died in the strike.
by Tom Midlane
8 July 2026
Israel killed a senior leader of a group organising World Cup screenings in Gaza shortly before Egypt’s match against Argentina on Tuesday – in an attack that also left two children and one other person dead.
Mohamed Fawaz al-Wahidi, the public relations director of the Egyptian Relief Committee in Gaza, died in a drone strike on a civilian vehicle in the Sabra neighbourhood of Gaza City.
Al-Wahidi, Hamza al-Deri, 10, and his eight-year-old brother Fari, were all passersby. The driver of the car, Ahmed Daghmush, 33, was also killed, the Washington Post reported.
Several others were injured in the attack, the Palestinian Information Center and Arabi Post reported.
The timing of the strike has led to speculation that Israel targeted al-Wahidi as a form of retaliation after Egypt’s coach, Hossam Hassan, used his platform at the World Cup to show support for Palestine.
Hassan dedicated his side’s round of 32 win against Australia to the Palestinian people and waved their flag.
“If there is anyone in the world who does not feel for the Palestinian people, then they have lost part of their humanity – whether they are Arab, European, or American,” he said in a press conference after the game.
Tuesday’s strike was the latest of numerous violations by Israel of a so-called ceasefire agreed with Hamas in October. It was announced on Tuesday that Hamas was handing over power to a new authority, the new National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, which is based in Cairo.
The Egyptian Relief Committee was established by Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to provide humanitarian aid in Gaza. It distributes food, houses displaced families and clears rubble from bombsites.
The committee, which has been screening Egypt’s World Cup games in Gaza, has previously been targeted by the Israeli military. In January an Israeli drone killed five of its members who were filming a new displacement camp near Netzarim, Drop Site News reported.
Israel genocide in Gaza has killed, at a conservative estimate, over 73,000 people. Among those killed are 567 footballers, according to the Palestinian Football Association.
Tom Midlane is a freelance journalist.