Relief in Aida camp as Israel pauses football pitch demolition

The sports director at the youth centre at the Aida football pitch told The New Arab he felt both relief and caution this week after the ground was spared demolition, following confirmed intervention by UEFA and reported involvement by FIFA after an international campaign.

Israeli authorities had ordered the demolition of the pitch in Aida refugee camp, on the outskirts of Bethlehem, on 31 December, arguing it was built without permits in an area close to Israel’s apartheid wall.

The Israeli army has since reclassified the demolition as “non urgent” and frozen the order.

Mohammad Abusrour said the decision brought a rare sense of hope but remained fragile.

“I felt emotional and relieved, but also careful,” Mohammad Abusrour told The New Arab. “This moment shows the power of solidarity, but until we receive official written confirmation, we cannot say the pitch is fully saved.”

“This has given our children and community a sense of hope we truly needed.”

Abusrour said the threat felt real given the scale of sporting facilities destroyed by Israel in recent years.

“That is why we fought so hard, because we knew how fragile this victory could be,” the director said. “True safety comes only with official legal protection.”

UEFA later confirmed that its president, Aleksander Ceferin, had been in direct contact with the Israeli Football Association regarding the preservation of the pitch.

“We can confirm that the UEFA president has been in contact with the Israel football federation regarding the preservation of a football pitch in a refugee camp in the West Bank,” the organisation said.

Sources familiar with the talks described Ceferin’s intervention as “highly significant” in persuading Israeli authorities to halt the demolition. According to Israeli media reports, Ceferin held numerous phone calls in recent days with Israeli Football Association chair Moshe “Shino” Zuares.

FIFA officials were also involved in discussions, according to multiple reports. FIFA president Gianni Infantino was said to have raised the issue with the Swiss government, where several MPs had expressed concern over the planned demolition.

Switzerland’s ambassador to Israel, Simon Geissbühler, coordinated with the Israeli foreign ministry, the Israeli Football Association, the army’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories and Central Command, according to reports.

The case drew international attention, including from children’s educator and Palestine advocate Ms Rachel, who urged supporters to sign a petition opposing the demolition and welcomed news that the order had been suspended.

Abusrour wanted to express “deep gratitude” to UEFA and FIFA, showing that “sports institutions can defend children’s rights”, while Ms Rachel showed “great courage and humility” in using her platform to save the pitch.

“Hundreds of thousands of people around the world proved that solidarity can truly make a difference,” he says.

Israeli authorities had ordered the demolition of the pitch on 31 December, arguing it was built without permits in an area close to Israel’s apartheid wall. Residents were initially given one week to demolish the pitch themselves or face the costs being imposed on them, a standard procedure in such cases.

The Israeli army has since reclassified the demolition as “non urgent” and frozen the order.

“This is not only about a football pitch. It is about children’s right to play, to feel safe, and to grow with dignity,” Abusrour says. “Our campaign will continue until the pitch is permanently and officially protected. We will not stop standing up for our children.”

More than 200 young people regularly use the pitch, which was built in 2021. Its demolition would have removed one of the few open recreational spaces available to Palestinian children in the camp.

The intervention comes as football’s governing bodies face growing calls to bar Israel from international competitions over its war on Gaza, which has killed more than 71,000 Palestinians, including at least 421 footballers.

The Israeli army has destroyed dozens of sports facilities, including football stadiums and pitches in Gaza and the occupied West Bank since October 2023, a pattern rights groups have described as a “sports genocide“.

“I believe that we have to build on the campaign to protect all Palestinian athletes and sports facilities,” Abusrour asserts. “In addition, I believe that FIFA and UEFA must suspend Israel’s membership from all competitions, till we have our right to play sport.”