Agency :
Thousands of enthusiastic football fans converged on a stadium in war-torn Gaza on Thursday for a match seen as a symbolic victory over bitter political divisions and an Israeli blockade.
The encounter between West Bank-based Al-Ahli and Gaza’s Shejaiya-their first in 15 years-was technically to determine who will go on to represent Palestine in international competitions.
Players and fans, however, saw it as much more than a sporting event, with the West Bank and Gaza Strip only 60 kilometres (40 miles) apart but separated by politics and Israeli territory.
Islamist movement Hamas rules Gaza, which is under a strict Israeli blockade, while the Palestinian Authority of president Mahmud Abbas is based in the West Bank.
Attempts at reconciliation between the two Palestinian political factions have proved futile-but that was not the case for Thursday’s football match.
The match which ended in a 0-0 draw was a relief for Gazans from the poverty and destruction surrounding them, especially after last year’s war with Israel.
But not everyone could enter at five shekels per ticket ($1.30) to watch the match, played in blisteringly hot temperatures.
Thousands of enthusiastic football fans converged on a stadium in war-torn Gaza on Thursday for a match seen as a symbolic victory over bitter political divisions and an Israeli blockade.
The encounter between West Bank-based Al-Ahli and Gaza’s Shejaiya-their first in 15 years-was technically to determine who will go on to represent Palestine in international competitions.
Players and fans, however, saw it as much more than a sporting event, with the West Bank and Gaza Strip only 60 kilometres (40 miles) apart but separated by politics and Israeli territory.
Islamist movement Hamas rules Gaza, which is under a strict Israeli blockade, while the Palestinian Authority of president Mahmud Abbas is based in the West Bank.
Attempts at reconciliation between the two Palestinian political factions have proved futile-but that was not the case for Thursday’s football match.
The match which ended in a 0-0 draw was a relief for Gazans from the poverty and destruction surrounding them, especially after last year’s war with Israel.
But not everyone could enter at five shekels per ticket ($1.30) to watch the match, played in blisteringly hot temperatures.
