He tried to bring them the matches close to their tents and wrecked shelters
Al-Wahidi was director of public relations for Egypt's relief committee and worked to clear rubble, resettle displaced families, and bring entertainment through public match screenings. The strike killed al-Wahidi and three others including siblings aged 10 and 8 in Gaza City on the eve of Egypt vs Argentina match, occurring despite October 2025 ceasefire agreement.
- Mohammed al-Wahidi, 57, director of public relations for Egyptian Relief Committee
- Killed in Israeli air strike on July 8, 2026, along with three others including siblings aged 10 and 8
- 1,092 Palestinians killed during ceasefire period since October 10, 2025
- Over 73,000 Palestinians killed since October 2023 conflict began
Mohammed al-Wahidi, a 57-year-old Palestinian aid worker who organized World Cup screenings in Gaza, was killed in an Israeli air strike along with three others including two children, drawing hundreds to his funeral.
Mohammed al-Wahidi was fifty-seven years old and worked for Egypt's main relief organization in Gaza, a position that had consumed much of his life over the past two years. He cleared rubble from bombed neighborhoods. He helped resettle families who had lost their homes. And in the months leading up to this summer, he did something quieter but no less important: he arranged for the World Cup to be shown on large screens across the enclave, giving thousands of people a few hours of distraction from the weight of their circumstances.
On Tuesday, July 8th, al-Wahidi was in a taxi in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City when an Israeli air strike hit the vehicle. He died instantly, along with three others. Two of them were siblings—a ten-year-old and an eight-year-old who happened to be passing by. The fourth victim was identified as Ahmed Jehad Rajab Doghmosh, thirty years old, though it remains unclear whether he was driving or riding as a passenger. The strike came on the eve of an Egypt versus Argentina match, a game that Palestinians had been looking forward to watching. Egypt had performed well in the tournament before being eliminated by Argentina.
Al-Wahidi's son, Fawaz, spoke to Reuters in the days after his father's death. "My father worked hard to bring some entertainment to the people, to the displaced, to us, and everyone who suffers in Gaza," he said. "He tried to bring them the matches close to their tents and wrecked shelters." The work had been exhausting, Fawaz explained, but his father had been driven by a simple conviction: that people displaced by war deserved moments of joy, however brief.
The Egyptian Relief Committee, which al-Wahidi served as director of public relations, described him as a respected community elder who mediated disputes and organized food distribution alongside the World Cup screenings. Two Egyptian security sources confirmed that he also handled logistics for the organization, coordinating the movement of supplies and personnel across a territory fractured by two years of conflict. When news of his death reached Cairo, a senior Egyptian official raised the matter directly with Israel, denouncing both the killing and what the official characterized as ongoing obstruction of the committee's humanitarian work.
Hundreds of people came to al-Wahidi's funeral on Wednesday. His body was wrapped in both Palestinian and Egyptian flags before burial. Neighbors and friends visited his house throughout the day, a steady stream of mourners paying respects to a man who had become woven into the fabric of his community not through grand gestures but through small, persistent acts of care.
The killing occurred despite a ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and Hamas on October 10th, 2025. While ground fighting has diminished since then, Israeli air strikes have continued. According to Gaza's Ministry of Health, at least 1,092 Palestinians have been killed and more than 3,507 wounded during the nine months of the so-called ceasefire. The total death toll since the conflict began in October 2023 now exceeds 73,000. Al-Wahidi's death was one among thousands, yet for the people who gathered at his funeral, it carried the particular sting of losing someone who had chosen to spend his final years trying to make their suffering bearable.
Notable Quotes
My father worked hard to bring some entertainment to the people, to the displaced, to us, and everyone who suffers in Gaza; he tried to bring them the matches close to their tents and wrecked shelters.— Fawaz al-Wahidi, son of Mohammed al-Wahidi, speaking to Reuters
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why did organizing World Cup screenings matter so much in a place like Gaza?
Because for a few hours, thousands of people could sit together and watch something that had nothing to do with survival. They could cheer for Egypt, feel part of something larger than their immediate loss. In a place where most days are about finding food or shelter, that's not trivial.
And al-Wahidi understood that?
His son said his father believed people displaced by war deserved moments of joy. He wasn't naive about what screenings could and couldn't do. But he did them anyway.
The ceasefire was supposed to have stopped this kind of thing.
It reduced ground fighting. But air strikes never really stopped. Nine months in, over a thousand people dead. The agreement existed on paper in a way it didn't exist in the sky.
What made al-Wahidi different from other aid workers?
Maybe nothing. Maybe he was just one person doing the work, and the fact that he organized screenings alongside clearing rubble meant people saw him as someone who understood what they needed—not just survival, but dignity.
His son was there when he died?
No. Fawaz learned about it afterward, like everyone else. He spoke to the news agencies from wherever he was, trying to explain who his father had been.
What happens to the World Cup screenings now?
The source doesn't say. But you can imagine the question hanging over Gaza—whether someone else will set them up, or whether that particular small kindness ends with him.