In the bustle of Ramallah’s vegetable market, Wael al-Awawdeh has been standing behind his stall since the early morning hours. Just three years ago, he spent his days training and playing matches, wearing the captain’s armband for Shabab al-Samu Club in the Palestinian soccer league.
Soccer was the 30-year-old’s primary source of income. But after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and war broke out in Gaza, Palestinian soccer competitions in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip were suspended by the Palestinian Football Association.
The U.S. designates Hamas as a terrorist organization.
With no matches and no regular contract, al-Awawdeh eventually had to find other work to support his family.
He is far from alone. According to the Palestinian Football Association, some 6,600 players were officially registered in its competitions for the 2023-24 season in the West Bank and Gaza Strip before sports were suspended. Not all of them relied on soccer as their primary source of income, but the shutdown dealt a severe blow to professional players, coaches and club employees, and left clubs without the sponsorship they depend on. Three years on, it shows how the war that followed Hamas’ attack has reached into everyday economic life in the West Bank as well as Gaza.
“My life before Oct. 7 was a real luxury,” al-Awawdeh told MBN. “I was living my passion as a professional player, but after the war, everything was turned upside down. I waited an entire year, hoping soccer would return, but things only got worse. In the end, I had to work at Ramallah’s vegetable market as a street vendor.”
Al-Awawdeh still keeps his soccer shoes and jersey at home. He occasionally plays with friends in five-a-side matches, but it’s a poor substitute for his old life.
“I miss the locker room, my teammates, the daily training sessions, the noise of the matches, and the joy of hearing a child or a fan shouting my name from the stands,” he said.
Sameh Maraabeh, a player for Jabal Al-Mukaber Club and a former member of the Palestinian national team, said the end of the competitions had affected both his income and his opportunities with the national team.
“The impact of the war on us was devastating,” he said. “I have an impressive record with the national team, but I lost my opportunity because the focus shifted entirely to players who are fit and professionals playing outside Palestine.”
Maraabeh said some players’ contracts had been worth as much as 150,000 shekels (roughly $50,000) a season. That was enough to be the primary source of income for some players. But the payments ended with the games.
“We welcome any decision that ensures the return of sporting activity, even if it begins gradually with a tournament to get things moving again,” Maraabeh said.
Iyad Abu Gharqoud, a native of the Bureij refugee camp in the Gaza Strip and a former player for Markaz Shabab Al-Am’ari and the Palestinian national team, said it took him three months to find work after soccer was suspended. It’s been tough adjusting to his new circumstances, he said.
“Sport was our livelihood and our only outlet,” he told MBN. “After the war, we didn’t just lose our fields; we lost our source of income and the life we knew.”
There is some good news, however. The Palestinian Football Association announced in August 2026 that football activities would resume after a nearly three-year suspension, starting with a friendly tournament, with official league competitions set to return the following season.
Abdullah al-Sidawi, coach of Shabab Hebron Club, described the impact that years of inactivity have had on players’ abilities.
The prolonged interruption, he said, has hurt their fitness and skill levels, which will make it hard for some former players to return to form even if professional sports are resuming.
“Soccer requires continuity,” said al-Sidawi. “When sporting activity stops for long periods, sports professions become secondary or abandoned professions. It will take us a very long time to regain our physical and technical readiness.”
At the same time, the clubs themselves have come under financial pressure as sponsorship and other forms of support have declined.
Mohammad Alawi, a lecturer at Birzeit University, said the crisis had exposed the limited resources on which Palestinian clubs depend and their inability to withstand a prolonged shutdown.
“Clubs do not have a sustainable financial model that allows them to withstand crises,” he said. “When the war broke out, companies stopped supporting and sponsoring the sports sector. Community support disappeared, and clubs were no longer able to meet their financial obligations,” he said.
For al-Awawdeh, soccer remains part of his daily life even though he is no longer on the professional pitch. He stays in regular contact with his former teammates, and they talk about the matches they played together and the possibility of returning someday.
“All we hope for is one thing,” he said. “To return to the fields.”
Adapted and translated from the original Arabic.
