Watan-The Palestinian international referee Mohammad Khattab and his family were martyred following the targeting of their home in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, by an Israeli airstrike.
This came within the massacres that the occupying army continues to carry out in the Gaza Strip since the start of the brutal war on October 7th last year.
It is known that Khattab is one of the accredited referees to the Asian and International Football Federations and has participated in managing several Asian and Arab tournaments since his accreditation in 2020.
More than 1000 martyrs from the youth and sports sector
More than a thousand martyrs from the youth and sports sector have fallen, and more than a thousand members of the youth, sports, and scouting movement have been martyred, with others wounded during the brutal Israeli war on Gaza.
مصادر محلية: ارتقاء الحكم المساعد الدولي محمد خطاب مع عائلته بعد قصف الاحتلال لمنزلهم في دير البلح. pic.twitter.com/J6X2s5Qpte
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) February 21, 2024
Dozens are still missing under the rubble of destroyed homes due to the continuous Israeli occupation airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.
Calls for an urgent investigation have been made
Earlier, the head of the Palestinian Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, Jibril Rajoub, accused the Israeli occupation army of targeting sports facilities, federations, and Palestinian sports clubs in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
Rajoub said in a previous statement: “Urgent messages to the International Olympic Committee and all international, continental, and regional federations, including FIFA… We demand an urgent international investigation into the crimes of the Israeli occupation against sports and athletes in Palestine.”