Palestinian sports commentator Khalil Jadallah has spent the past three years mourning the athletes killed in Israel’s war on Gaza. As Palestinian football officially resumed this week, his return to the stadium proved bittersweet.
Palestinian professional sports were brought to a halt in October 2023 when Israel began its military onslaught on Gaza, in which 1,014 Palestinian athletes were killed, according to the Palestinian Football Association’s tally.
On Friday, Jadallah was back at Faisal Al-Husseini Stadium in Al-Ram in the West Bank to call the opening match of the first tournament organised by the association in three years.
Though long awaited, the event was marked by contradicting emotions for Jadallah: “a feeling of joy at returning after such an absence, but also a feeling of loss.”
“We lost players… fans, administrators and referees,” Jadallah told AFP.
