The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) has told Fox News Digital that Palestinian soccer players it targeted with military strikes were, it alleges, also active members of Hamas and other Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant groups. The claim is a response to accusations circulating that the IDF has deliberately killed Palestinian footballers, and it matters because it feeds into the broader, highly contested dispute over civilian casualties in Gaza and how combatants embedded in civilian life, including sport, are identified and targeted.

According to the IDF statement cited by Fox News, "false claims" have been spread suggesting it deliberately targeted athletes, and the military insists the individuals in question were operatives of designated terror organisations rather than solely civilian sportsmen. The article, published by Fox News's sports desk, does not provide independent verification of the IDF's claims, name the specific players involved, or include a response from Palestinian football officials or human rights monitors, leaving the assertions unconfirmed by other sources.