Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News, 2014-02-19

Two Palestinian football players shot by Israeli forces last month have learned that they will never be able to play sport again due to their injuries.

Jawhar Nasser Jawhar, (19), and Adam Abd al-Raouf Halabiya, (17), were shot by Israeli soldiers as they were walking home from a training session in the Faisal al-Husseini Stadium in al-Ram in the central West Bank on January 31.

Police dogs were subsequently unleashed on them before Israeli soldiers dragged them across the ground and beat them.

The two were taken to Ramallah governmental where they underwent a number of operations to remove the bullets before being transferred to King Hussein Medical Center in Amman.

Medical reports said that Jawhar was shot with 11 bullets, seven in his left foot, three in his right, and one in his left hand. Halabiya was shot once in each foot.

Doctors at the hospital said the pair will need six months of treatment before they can evaluate if the two will even be able to ever walk again, at best.

Three days after the horrific shooting, FIFA president Sepp Blatter chaired a mediation Task Force to seek a solution to the travel restrictions placed on Palestinian footballers and officials in the West Bank by Israeli security forces.

The meeting was attended by both the head of the Israeli FA, Avi Luzon, and his Palestinian counterpart, Jibril al-Rajoub as well as representatives from the Asian Football Confederation and UEFA.

While the shootings would have had no immediate influence on the negotiations, they serve as an immediate and graphic reminder of the situation for Palestinian sports people in the region.

Chairman of the Palestinian Football Association Jibril al-Rajoub condemned the shooting and said that "Israeli brutality against them emphasizes the occupation's insistence on destroying Palestinian sport."

Rajoub called for imposing penalties on the Israeli football association, and demanded its removal from the FIFA as it should not accept racist organizations that do not adhere to international law.

It is an awkward situation for FIFA who are getting close to being caught in a wider political and security debate. FIFA recognises Palestine as a full member, as it does Israel.

"I welcome Mr Blatter's initiative for ending the suffering of the Palestinian footballers and ending the restrictions imposed by the Israeli occupation. It's not just players. You are talking about instructors, consultants, anyone who wants to come to Palestine. They have to wait for hours to get permits,” said al-Rajoub.

But what started as a straightforward initiative to enable freer movement of players and officials has quickly escalated to the more entrenched political positions of the two sides. – Agencies

(Twitter: @Faizie143)