‘Some sweets for Maryem’: Gaza basketball star slain at US aid distribution point

By Mahd Ali Abuaisha and Tarek Chouiref

ISTANBUL (AA) – A single bullet to the heart ended the life of Palestinian basketball star Mohammed Shaalan as he tried to bring food home to his five children in the Gaza Strip, strangled by famine.

Shaalan, a member of Palestine’s national basketball team and one of Gaza’s top players, was shot dead Tuesday near a US aid distribution point in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.

With shelves empty and prices soaring, his family said he turned to the new distribution mechanism as a last resort.

“He told our son he would bring some sweets for Maryem, the youngest,” his wife, Maysa Joudeh, 33, told Anadolu.

“He went to get food for our children. One of our daughters urgently needs surgery, and I myself am malnourished. We had nothing left.”

Since May 27, Israel has overseen aid deliveries through the so-called “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.” This Israeli- and US-backed aid distribution scheme has been rejected by the UN and Palestinians as “death traps.”

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 2,095 Palestinians have been killed and more than 15,431 wounded while waiting for aid since the mechanism began.

- ‘Children crying from hunger’

Shaalan’s mother, Umm Mohammed, said her son left home after the family ran out of flour.

“The children were crying from hunger,” she told Anadolu. “He went out to fetch food, but these places are traps for our youth. Palestinians must not go there.”

At home, the family now clings to Shaalan’s trophies and medals, reminders of a career cut short. He played for several Gaza clubs, including Bureij Services Club Stadium, Al Maghazi Services, and Gaza Sporting Club, and earned a place on Palestine’s national basketball team.

Joudeh said debts had piled up as Shaalan struggled to keep the family fed and pay for medicine.

The couple’s children range from 10 years old to an infant under 50 days. One daughter needs urgent ureter surgery to avoid kidney failure.

“Like every father here, he went for food,” she said. “Instead, he was shot and his life was stolen.”

- Starvation as a weapon

Rights groups accuse Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war.

Since March 2, Israel has kept Gaza’s crossings largely shut to UN and international convoys, allowing in only minimal supplies that fall far short of the enclave’s needs.

The UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) last week confirmed famine in northern Gaza and warned it will spread to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis by September if conditions persist. Israel dismissed the findings despite extensive evidence of mass hunger.

According to Palestinian sports authorities, at least 670 athletes have been killed in Gaza and the West Bank since October 2023, while 288 sports and scouting facilities have been destroyed.

Joudeh said what the family needs now is simple: “Food, medicine, and safe access to aid. And for our daughter’s surgery to happen before it is too late.”

Israel has killed more than 62,700 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, which is facing famine.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.