Israeli Premier League player Menashe Zarqa has been seen launching an attack with Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon.
Amid the US-Israel war against Iran, an Israeli soccer player wearing military uniform was seen firing a gun in southern Lebanon, prompting calls from soccer officials and fans for FIFA to take action against him.
A social media video posted by Israel’s Channel 14 on Saturday shows Menashe Zarqa, wearing an Israeli military uniform, firing a machine gun and throwing a grenade.
The video, seen by Al Jazeera, is said to be of an attack by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.
According to Israeli media reports, Zarka, who plays for Hapoel Hadera in the Israeli Premier League, has joined the Army Airborne Forces as a reservist.
The 35-year-old man was seen being escorted by another Israeli soldier firing from a damaged building in a residential area at an unspecified location in southern Lebanon.
Zarqa had previously participated in Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, where he served as a reservist for “several hundred days,” according to a post by former lawmaker Dov Lippman.
A Palestinian football official said Zarqa’s involvement in the military attack was “unacceptable”.
A video showing Zarqa’s involvement in an Israeli attack in Lebanon has prompted soccer officials and fans to renew calls for FIFA to suspend the Israel Football Association (IFA), which was recently fined 150,000 Swiss francs (about $189,000) by the sport’s world governing body.
FIFA’s disciplinary committee on March 19 found IFA guilty of “multiple breaches” of its anti-discrimination obligations, but did not suspend the Israeli organization despite calls from the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) and rights groups.
“Israel’s Channel 14 praises Hapoel Hadera captain Menashe Zarqa for throwing grenades and firing guns in southern Lebanon,” PFA vice president Susan Shalabi wrote in a post on X.
In October 2024, the PFA reported the IFA’s alleged discrimination to FIFA, and FIFA began an investigation, but did not suspend the Israeli organization as requested by the Palestinian Football Federation.
In a lengthy decision released by the IFA’s disciplinary committee, it listed several instances of racism in Israeli football and found that it did not “adhere to FIFA’s statutory objectives”.
Soccer fans and several experts have accused FIFA and European football association UEFA of double standards for failing to take action against Israel despite its genocidal war in the Gaza Strip, while swiftly sanctioning Russia following Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Recent incidents in which Israeli soccer players actively participated in military attacks have renewed calls for FIFA and IFA to ban Zarqa.
“FIFA is aware of Israeli players’ involvement in war crimes but is doing nothing,” soccer writer Leila Hamed said in a post, adding: “They kick balls on the weekends and commit atrocities during the week.”
One soccer fan called Israel’s inclusion in European soccer competition an “insult” and said the team should not be expected to play against a “genocidal nation.”
Other fans called Zarca’s actions “truly evil” and questioned FIFA’s inaction.
Palestinian officials say Israeli airstrikes and ground attacks continue across the Gaza Strip, as a genocidal war against Palestinians continues in the besieged area despite a US-brokered “ceasefire.”
Palestinians in the occupied West Bank are also enduring an uptick in violence, including attacks from settlers in the occupied territory.
This occurred in the midst of Israel’s invasion of Lebanon and the US-Israel war against Iran.
