UMM AL-KHAIR, West Bank (AP) — As the FIFA World Cup gets underway on June 11, with Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia among the Arab nations set to compete, soccer remains both a passion and a struggle for many Palestinians in the Israeli- occupied West Bank. The Palestinian national team came agonizingly close to qualifying for the tournament but fell just short of reaching the 48-team field. Still, the World Cup will be closely watched in the West Bank, where, for many young Palestinians, the game offers both an escape from daily pressures and the realities that surround them.
A Palestinian boy carries a worn soccer ball while playing with friends in an alley in the West Bank town of Al-Ram, Monday, May 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
In the Bedouin village of Umm al-Khair, in the Masafer Yatta region south of Hebron, children play on a small soccer pitch bordered by barbed wire erected by Israeli settlers from the nearby Carmel settlement. During a recent game, a ball kicked toward the goal landed beyond the fence as young settlers passed by. The settlers took the ball away, ending the match.
Palestinian boys look toward a young Israeli settler after their soccer ball, kicked beyond a barbed-wire fence surrounding a small football pitch near the Carmel settlement, was taken away in the West Bank Bedouin village of Umm al-Khair, Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
