Israeli strike kills aid worker who organized Gaza World Cup screenings

An Israeli strike killed Mohammad al-Waheidi, an aid worker who helped organize World Cup game screenings for Palestinians in Gaza, as he rode in a taxi toward a viewing in Gaza City’s Sabra neighborhood. The strike came just before kickoff of the Egypt-Argentina match on Tuesday, July 8, 2026, and left four people dead.

Al-Waheidi worked for the Egyptian Relief Committee, Egypt’s main aid organization in Gaza. He handled logistics and public relations for the group. His son Fawaz said his father worked hard to bring entertainment and relief to displaced Gazans by staging the match viewings close to tents and wrecked shelters. The screenings drew crowds in a strip where roughly 2 million residents have been repeatedly uprooted and are living largely in makeshift tents or damaged buildings after more than two years of war.

Three other people were killed in the same strike. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights identified one of them as 30-year-old Ahmed Jehad Rajab Doghmosh, who was also inside the vehicle, though it was not clear whether he was driving or riding as a passenger. The other two dead were children, ages 10 and 8, who were walking nearby.

The Israeli military struck a Hamas militant and was aware that uninvolved civilians may also have been killed. It did not identify the alleged militant, and no Palestinian militant group claimed those killed as members.

Hundreds of mourners filled Gaza City for al-Waheidi’s funeral on Wednesday, July 9, 2026. His body was wrapped in Palestinian and Egyptian flags as people gathered to mourn.

A senior Egyptian official raised al-Waheidi’s death with Israel and objected to continued assassinations and obstruction of the committee’s work.