Palestinian wielding knife shot dead by Israeli army

Israeli soldiers on Sunday afternoon have shot and killed a Palestinian man at Huwara checkpoint south of Nablus, northern West Bank, under an alleged stabbing attempt.

The match had originally been slated to take place on Saturday, but Israel prevented it from going ahead, according to Palestinian sports authorities.

Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence service gave no reason why the ban was reversed but local reports said Federation Internationale de Football Association had intervened and that the players entered through the Erez checkpoint on Monday without any delays.

Israel’s refusal resulted in the head of the Palestinian Football Federation, Jibril Rajoub, filing a complaint against Israel with the worldwide football governing body, FIFA.

Palestinian movement between the West Bank and Gaza requires prior approval by the Israeli authorities, who generally only grant permits to medical patients, merchants and foreigners.

The Ma’an TV channel was banned from playing inside Israeli prisons on Friday, as the Israel Prison Services (IPS) claimed the channel was inciting Palestinian prisoners against Israel. Israeli authorities did not comment. Ahly al-Khalil won 1-0 despite missing more than half of its lead players. Hebron won the title. What is not clear is whether they will attempt to revive efforts to have Israel expelled from the global sports body.

The Palestinians and the entire worldwide community consider the West Bank and Gaza Strip to be parts of the same territory despite not actually being territorially contiguous.

Palestinian footballers routinely complain of being unable to attend matches because of Israel’s stringent restrictions on movement between the two territories. Our newsletter features a comprehensive round-up of the week’s events.