PA Prime Minister Requests that FIFA Condemns Israel's Murder of a Palestinian Football Player

Palestinian player Ahmad Atef Mustafa Daraghma

Mohammad Shtayyeh, the Palestinian Authority's prime minister, has urged FIFA to condemn Israel's killing of Palestinian player Ahmad Atef Mustafa Daraghma, 23, according to Wafa.

Days after the world celebrated the end of the World Cup, Daraghma was shot and murdered during an Israeli army raid in Nablus that also left at least 24 other people injured.

The Palestinian footballer for the Thaqafi team in Tulkarem, was from the West Bank City of Tubas. He received deadly gunshot wounds to his feet and back.

The Israeli soldiers who killed Daraghma while defending unauthorized Jewish settlers who attacked the location of Joseph's Tomb were condemned by Shtayyeh.

Five other young Palestinians, some of whom suffered serious injuries, were shot with live ammo and rubber-coated steel bullets. The inhalation of tear gas caused 19 further injuries.

The prime minister pleaded with international rights organizations to take the initiative in putting an end to Israel's routine murdering of Palestinians and making the occupier responsible for its crimes.

Settlements routinely break into Joseph's Tomb in Nablus, a highly populated area, causing chaos and fights with Palestinians. Palestinians claim the tomb is a tribute to the local spiritual leader Sheikh Yousef Dweikat, despite Israeli settlers' claims that it is the final resting place of the Biblical patriarch Joseph.

UN experts criticized Israel's excessive use of force against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank earlier this month, as well as the spike in settler attacks.

“We remind Israel that pending the dismantlement of its unlawful occupation, Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territory must be treated as protected persons, not enemies or terrorists,” the experts said in a statement.

Israeli settler attacks in the occupied West Bank have increased annually for six years in a row as of 2022.