Gaza mourns the death of an aid worker who was in charge of showing World Cup games
An Israeli air strike killed the famous aid worker Mohammed al-Wahidi, leaving people all over the Gaza Strip saddened. He was known for his work with refugees and showing World Cup movies.
People all over the Gaza Strip have been sad about the death of famous aid worker Mohammed al-Wahidi, who was killed by an Israeli air strike. Many people have said that he was a sign of hope for families who had to leave their homes during the war.
Al-Wahidi, 65, was killed on Tuesday when an Israeli missile hit the taxi he was riding in through the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City. The other three people were also killed. One of them was a man, and the other two were brothers, ages 8 and 10.
The Israeli military confirmed that it had struck a Hamas member and acknowledged the civilian casualties in the attack. It said it knew about the claims that people who were not involved had died.
Al-Wahidi used to teach English and is now a top official with the Egyptian Relief Committee in Gaza. This is a charity group backed by Egypt that has been crucial in helping people during the war between Israel and Hamas.
For more than two and a half years, he helped organize emergency food deliveries, oversaw the building of camps for families who had to leave their homes, and worked to get aid to communities that had been moved over and over again by the fighting.
Many Palestinians said they knew him from shelters and camps for people who had to leave their homes because he liked working directly with affected communities instead of running things from an office.
Volunteers who worked with him said that he was often at aid distribution centers, where he talked to displaced families personally and met their immediate needs.
Recently, al-Wahidi got a lot of attention for helping to set up public screenings of FIFA World Cup games in Gaza City, Deir al-Balah, and the al-Mawasi area in southern Gaza. These events gave families and kids a rare break from the war.
Egypt’s World Cup games drew especially big groups, which shows how popular the country is with many Palestinians in Gaza. Videos of kids and families watching football on big screens set up in bombed-out buildings went viral online and became strong symbols of strength.
Al-Wahidi was killed just hours before one of the planned shows, which was Egypt’s Round of 16 game against Argentina. The news made many people in the area feel even more down about their loss.
Mohammed Hmeid, an activist who wrote extensively about al-Wahidi’s humanitarian work, paid tribute to him on social media.
“He was not just a volunteer with a humanitarian group.” For people who had lost everything or had to move, he was a door to hope that opened every day. Everyone who knew him talks about how kind, honest, and generous he was.
“In Gaza, no one is safe, not even those who spend their whole lives helping others. “But good things can’t be killed. People will always remember them.
The death of al-Wahidi comes at a time when aid workers in Gaza are still in danger. The UN reports that the war has claimed the lives of at least 593 aid workers in the area. Eight of these deaths have happened since Israel and Hamas agreed to end the fighting 10 months ago.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel, according to Israeli officials. The attack killed about 1,200 people and took 251 prisoners. This was the start of the war.
