For fans and players, this football match in the Jabalia refugee camp on Tuesday was a welcome distraction from the pangs of hunger and exhaustion endured over nearly 300 days of Israel's relentless and brutal war on Gaza. Referee Rami Mustafa Abu Hashish said football helped "restore a semblance of life" to Jabalia, devastated by Israeli bombardments and fighting which have laid waste to schools, stadiums, and homes, and uprooted families many times over. Jabalia was hit particularly hard in an Israeli offensive launched in May, part of a fierce campaign sweeping northern Gaza -- an area the military had previously said was out of the control of Hamas militants. As fighting rages, humanitarian agencies struggle to deliver aid and warn of a looming famine. But for the footballers, the match offered a rare escape from concerns about food and water shortages.
