Abdullah Khattab emerged as one of Gaza’s rising soccer talents at a young age. But he was committed to more than just athletics.
On July 22, the Israel Defense Forces published information indicating that 12 Gazan athletes killed during the Oct. 7 war were also members of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The list includes Khattab — a tank commander whose affiliation with PIJ had already been acknowledged in June — as well as additional players, coaches, and even an international referee. The Israeli militia decided to spotlight Khattab and others in response to accusations from activist groups and the Palestinian Football Association during the 2026 FIFA World Cup season, claiming that Israel deliberately targeted Palestinian soccer players.
Since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in Israel, the Israeli military has exposed numerous terrorists killed during the ensuing war who held accepted day jobs. Some were Al Jazeera journalists. Others found work with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. The growing list of presumed civilian casualties exposed as terrorists now includes celebrated athletes, demonstrating just how deeply Hamas and PIJ have infiltrated civil society in Gaza.
Among those on the Israeli military list is Ahmed Mohammed Hassan Abu Al-Atta, a 34-year-old defender who, according to the military, played for “several clubs in Gaza.” Abu al Atta was killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza City in June 2024. It turns out that al Atta was also a deputy platoon commander for the rocket unit in PIJ’s Gaza Brigade. PIJ confirmed his affiliation in June 2026.
Al Atta’s story is not unique. Hamas and PIJ claimed as their own seven of the 12 individuals the Israeli militia identified, including both al Atta and Khattab. A third individual is Mahmoud Osama al Jazzar, a decorated goalkeeper who was also a deputy commander in PIJ’s Rafah Brigade. Another, Mohammad Mansour, was a soccer player and a youth coach while also serving as a deputy commander for Hamas’s Nuseirat battalion. He allegedly participated in the Oct. 7 attack.
Another athlete-cum-terrorist is Mohammed Khattab. Khattab was a PIJ platoon commander and also an assistant referee for FIFA, international soccer’s governing body. Khattab was killed in an Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, in February 2024. PIJ acknowledged his death in June, two years after the Asian Football Confederation and FIFA President Gianni Infantino expressed their condolences. Infantino penned a letter to the PFA, the FIFA-sanctioned governing body for Palestine, noting that Khattab’s “legacy and trajectory on and off the pitch will not be forgotten, and he will be truly missed.”
The PFA claims that 1,007 athletes were “martyred” in Gaza between Oct. 7, 2023, and Feb. 12, 2026, in some cases publishing notices for individual deaths. Yet, according to FIFA regulations, member associations such as the PFA must “be neutral in matters of politics and religion.” It is hard to imagine that commemorating Hamas and PIJ terrorists as “martyrs” adheres to that standard. Nor, for that matter, does accusing Israel of “genocide” in official PFA communications.
Furthermore, FIFA prohibits “discrimination of any kind against a country, private person or group of people” based on “ethnic, national or social origin” or “religion, political opinion or any other opinion.” Violating this prohibition is “punishable by suspension or expulsion.” The FIFA-affiliated Hamas and PIJ operatives who aided in the massacre of Israelis presumably violated that regulation.
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FIFA and the PFA should take a look in the mirror, punish violations in accordance with all FIFA statutes, and review their vetting standards for referees and other members. As an international organization and member association, respectively, FIFA and the PFA must commit to full honesty, transparency, and neutrality.
The Israelis continue to expose just how deeply Hamas and PIJ are woven into Gaza’s civilian fabric. Days after publishing information about the athletes, the Israeli government spotlighted 18 Gazan health workers “presented as innocent” who were also members of Hamas and PIJ. Rebuilding and charting Gaza on a better course will require rooting out terrorist influence, which, as Israel continues to show, is pervasive. A safe, terrorism-free future for Gaza must extend to civil society, its soccer leagues included.
Natalie Ecanow is a senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where Micah Jacobson is an intern. Follow FDD on X @FDD. Follow Natalie on X @NatalieEcanow. FDD is a Washington, D.C.-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on foreign policy and national security.