AL-MAWASI — Al-Rahma Camp defeated Sheikh Al-Eid Camp 2–1 in a football match in Gaza’s Al-Mawasi displacement area. Asaad Al-Azzabi led his team to victory under ongoing war conditions and severe resource constraints.

Before the match, Al-Azzabi explained the game plan to his players by drawing on the sand. He played the match in boots held together by plastic tape, a common practice for him since he sometimes borrows footwear from a friend or patches his own with tape to keep playing.

Children and young men gathered around a sandy pitch to watch the game. Some spectators arrived after spending hours standing in queues for food, water, or battery charging. After the final whistle, young men from Al-Rahma Camp lifted Al-Azzabi and his teammates onto their shoulders in celebration.

"Under these difficult circumstances, to be able to come out and play a match like this is a very good thing," says Asaad Al-Azzabi. "Congratulations to our camp. I dedicate this championship to my wife and son in Jordan, and I wish my son a speedy recovery."

Al-Azzabi now lives alone in a tent in Al-Rahma Camp, a shelter for people displaced from Rafah. His wife left for Jordan with their son, who has cancer, to seek treatment. Before the war, he played for Al-Tajammu Club in Rafah.

Referee Alaa Abu Taha, a displaced resident of Rafah and an official with the Palestinian Football Association, oversaw the match. "With the most limited resources, we try to play. Now there is no sports infrastructure. The pitch we are standing on now was originally prepared for basketball and volleyball, but our people create everything out of nothing," he said.

According to the Palestinian Football Association, hundreds of athletes have been killed since the outbreak of the war, including many footballers. The association also reports that hundreds of sports facilities—such as pitches, club headquarters, and training halls—have been damaged or destroyed.

UN data indicates approximately 1.7 million people are living in around 1,600 displacement sites across the Gaza Strip. Most residents in these sites rely on water delivered by truck and face restrictions on the entry of equipment, fuel, and repair materials.