One of Gaza's most prominent basketball players was shot dead by Israeli forces this week while queuing for aid in Khan Younis, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Mohammed Shaalan, 40, was killed while seeking food and medicine for his daughter, Mariam, who suffers from kidney failure and severe blood poisoning.
The Palestinian Basketball Federation confirmed his death on Facebook. The sports body described Shaalan as “one of the brightest stars of the game in Palestine”.
“Mohammad, nicknamed 'the Earthquake' on the court, fell as a martyr to hunger and deprivation, leaving behind six children, including his six-year-old daughter Mariam, who suffers from kidney failure and blood poisoning, struggling alone with an uncertain fate after her father’s tragic death,” wrote the federation.
“Mohammad Shaalan has now joined the long list of Palestinian basketball martyrs – players, coaches, and officials – who were killed during the ongoing Israeli aggression against our people, his name forever engraved in the memory of Palestinian sports.”
The former national team player and father had been desperately appealing for his daughter to receive medical treatment for her illness, reported Wafa.
With her father gone, “Mariam is still waiting for treatment and mercy”, said the federation.
Israel's war on Gaza has heavily destroyed the enclave's health sector, destroying medical centres and personnel. Most hospitals in Gaza are in ruins.
Shaalan is the latest of hundreds killed at aid distribution centres in the strip. An investigation by The National has unveiled a pattern of systematic killings of Palestinians attempting to collect aid. More than 1,400 Palestinians have been killed while waiting to receive humanitarian assistance, at least 900 of them near sites run by the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the UN said.
Shaalan played for several local clubs as well as the national team. He won two Premier League titles, a Gaza Strip Cup Championship and two Super Cup Championships. His death deals another blow to the Palestinian sports community.
Earlier this month, Israel killed Gaza footballer Suleiman Al Obaid, known as the “Pele of Palestine”, while he was also waiting for humanitarian aid in Rafah.
The Palestinian Football Association said Al Obaid, 41, was shot dead while queuing for food at an aid distribution centre in southern Gaza.
He was regarded as one of the most talented attacking midfielders in the Gaza Strip League.
Nearly 800 Palestinian athletes and sports officials in Gaza and the occupied West Bank have been killed by Israel since October 2023, according to the association. Israeli forces have also destroyed 288 sports and scouting centres across the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, Wafa said.
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
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Matches 68; Wins 35; Draws 19; Losses 14; Goals For 133; Goals Against 82
- Eighth place in Premier League in 2015/16
- Runners-up in Europa League in 2016
- Runners-up in League Cup in 2016
- Fourth place in Premier League in 2016/17
Key Points
- Protests against President Omar Al Bashir enter their sixth day
- Reports of President Bashir's resignation and arrests of senior government officials
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Can NRIs vote in the election?
Indians residing overseas cannot cast their ballot abroad
Non-resident Indians or NRIs can vote only by going to a polling booth in their home constituency
There are about 3.1 million NRIs living overseas
Indians have urged political parties to extend the right to vote to citizens residing overseas
A committee of the Election Commission of India approved of proxy voting for non-resident Indians
Proxy voting means that a person can authorise someone residing in the same polling booth area to cast a vote on his behalf.
This option is currently available for the armed forces, police and government officials posted outside India
A bill was passed in the lower house of India’s parliament or the Lok Sabha to extend proxy voting to non-resident Indians
However, this did not come before the upper house or Rajya Sabha and has lapsed
The issue of NRI voting draws a huge amount of interest in India and overseas
Over the past few months, Indians have received messages on mobile phones and on social media claiming that NRIs can cast their votes online
The Election Commission of India then clarified that NRIs could not vote online
The Election Commission lodged a complaint with the Delhi Police asking it to clamp down on the people spreading misinformation
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
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