Palestinian football returned on Friday after nearly three years of halt due to the Gaza war, with club competitions kicking off in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Lebanon.
During the war, Gaza's sporting community has suffered heavy losses. Around 565 members of the Palestinian Football Association have been killed, while the overall death toll across the Palestinian sports community has exceeded 1,000. Meanwhile, Israel has destroyed more than 50 of Gaza's 56 sports clubs, and 285 sports facilities, leaving few places for players to train or compete.
The games on Friday included one at Faisal Al-Husseini International Stadium in the West Bank.
For those who survived, the competition means a return to their passion, and a step towards life again.
"It will not be easy for the sporting community to forget this painful loss. But sport must continue, and we honor their memory by keeping sporting activities going," said Bahaa Alqam, executive director of Jabal Al-Mukaber Club.
"It is a welcome moment for Palestinian fans as matches have begun and sporting activities have resumed, despite the difficult conditions Palestinians are facing, especially in Gaza. Life is beginning to resume through sport, which provides an outlet for Palestinians and embodies their national unity," said Hussam Shaheen, a former athlete.
"Palestinian clubs insisted on playing simultaneously in Gaza, the West Bank, here at Al-Ram Stadium in Jerusalem, and also in Lebanon. This is a message to the world that the Palestinian people remain committed to their unity and their right to life," said Jamal Abu Bashara, a former Palestinian national team coach.
Palestinian football returns after years of hiatus due to Gaza war
Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Sunday formally tasked opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot with forming a government, giving the former military chief a chance to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after Netanyahu's right-wing coalition lost its parliamentary majority in October's election.
Eisenkot, leader of the centrist Yashar party, received recommendations from 67 lawmakers in the 120-seat parliament, compared with 46 for Netanyahu.
At the ceremony, Herzog called for unity and a "stable government that can last."
Eisenkot warned that Israel was facing a "critical moment," saying the objectives of its multi-front conflicts "remained unfulfilled," its international relations were in a "devastating crisis," and its democracy was facing one of its gravest challenges.
"If we continue on the current path, we risk reaching a point of no return," he said, calling for new leadership "that people can look in the eye and trust."
He said he was convinced it was possible to form a new government with a substantial majority in the Knesset, and that he was open to Netanyahu's Likud party and far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's Religious Zionist Party joining a government under his leadership.
He said they were invited to "support the government under my leadership and the principles I've outlined."
"I intend to be the prime minister of all citizens of Israel, those who voted for me and those who haven't," Eisenkot said.
Eisenkot has 28 days to form a government, with a possible 14-day extension. Netanyahu will remain caretaker prime minister until a new government is sworn in.
Eisenkot's four-party alliance holds only 48 seats and would need support from Arab lawmakers or other parties to form a government.
Netanyahu on Saturday called for a national unity government, while Eisenkot's party said Likud could join a government led by Eisenkot if it abandoned its far-right allies.
Under Israeli law, if Eisenkot fails to form a government within the allotted time, Herzog may assign the task to another candidate, or at least 61 members of the 120-seat Knesset can ask the president to entrust the mandate to a candidate of their choice. If these efforts also fail, the Knesset will be dissolved and new elections will be held.
Israeli opposition leader Eisenkot officially receives mandate to form gov't
Israeli opposition leader Eisenkot officially receives mandate to form gov't
