IDF Reveals Gaza Footballers Were Hamas and Islamic Jihad Militants Killed in War

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) disclosed that several Palestinian football players, referees, and coaches presented internationally as innocent athletes were in fact militants affiliated with Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. These individuals were killed during the ongoing conflict. This revelation comes amid an international campaign accusing the IDF of deliberately targeting football players. Among those killed were Muhammad Barkat, who infiltrated Israel on October 7; Mahmoud Al-Rifi, a Hamas air unit platoon commander; Muhammad Mansour, deputy commander of a battalion that also infiltrated on October 7; and Muhammad Khatab, a FIFA international referee who was an Islamic Jihad militant. The IDF emphasized that this disclosure is part of an effort to counter attempts to portray these militants as innocent civilians.