Wesam Jadallah (Wisām Jādallāh) ( وسام جاد الله (ابو موسى, aka Abu Musa, age 43, was a signal figure in sports in Gaza. He was a gifted volleyball player who turned to coaching and teaching after injuries sidelined him. He taught as a professor of Physical Education at al-Aqsa University and served as coach of the Palestinian national youth volleyball team.

Dr. Jadallah was born in 1980 and raised in the Jabalya Refugee Camp north of Gaza City. He held a PhD in Physical Education, having studied in Egypt and subsequently served on the Faculty of Physical Education at al-Aqsa University.  

He started playing volleyball as a boy in local schools and on public courts, honing his skills until he joined the al-Sadaqa Club team. As a player, he was key to al-Sadaqa’s wins in many Arab championships, including league, cup, and super cup events. After he sustained injuries, he retired from playing to coach several teams, most notably al-Sadaqa, Shabab, Jabalya Services, and al-Shuja`iyya Union, many of which teams won local championships under his tutelage. He then became the coach of the Palestinian national youth volleyball team and the technical director of the Volleyball Federation.

(Dr. Jadallah, third from left)

Despite his star status as an athlete and coach, Dr. Jadallah remained a humble man, a “kind and gentle Captain,” who stayed close to his roots in Jabalya. Muhammad al-Rantisi wrote in al-Ayyam that countless players, coaches, and members of the Federation family and the wider sports community flooded digital platforms, expressing their profound sadness about his death. As al-Rantisi remarked: “Since sports competitions are a space where Palestinian youth come together in love and friendship, and where values, principles, and tolerant concepts flourish, the hardest thing for friends and loved ones to bear is the pain of separation when they lose their loved ones and colleagues.”

Dr. Jadallah was killed on 12 December 2023 when the Israeli Air Force bombed his home in the Jabalya Refugee Camp.

Photo credits: X; Shehabnews