GAZA, August 19, 2025 (WAFA) – Former Palestinian national basketball team player and one of Gaza’s most prominent basketball stars, Mohammed Shaalan, 40, was shot and killed on Tuesday by Israeli forces in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza.

According to local sources, Shaalan was targeted while attempting to reach humanitarian aid to feed his children. He had been desperately seeking food and medicine for his daughter Mariam, who suffers from kidney failure and severe blood poisoning, amid repeated appeals for help and access to treatment.

Shaalan played for several local basketball clubs and also represented Palestine as part of the national basketball team.

His killing brings the number of Palestinian sports community members killed to approximately 670. Israeli forces have also destroyed 288 sports and scouting facilities across the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

T.R.