Gaza police block women from attending soccer game

Gaza police are blocking dozens of women from attending a soccer game in the Gaza Strip, in what activists say they hoped would have been the first such permission under Hamas’s rule.

Authorities in the Palestinian enclave run by the terrorist Hamas group told the women they had orders not to allow them into the stadium at Nuseirat refugee camp south of Gaza City.

Some of the women instead watched the match between Al-Nuseirat and Al-Jalaa by standing outside the fence.

“We came here to encourage the team and youths in Nuseirat and watch the game, but we were surprised by the presence of Hamas security guards who closed the gates in our faces and did not allow us to go inside to cheer,” Ayat Othman, one of the women who tried to attend, says.

Female relatives of players have previously been allowed to attend games in Gaza, but Sunday’s match would have marked the first time under Hamas women could have attended on a large-scale basis, according to organizers.

— AFP