Israel fans place teddy bears in seats and hold up signs with faces of those who were kidnapped during Hamas attacks last month… as their defeat by Romania means they will have to go through play-offs to qualify for Euro 2024
- Israel fans placed teddy bears on seats before their match against Romania
- They also held up signs asking for kidnapped Israelis to be returned home
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Fans of Israel once again paid tribute to those who lost their lives in last month’s Hamas terrorist attacks and honored those who were kidnapped.
Romania booked their place at Euro 2024 after recovering from a goal down to claim a 2-1 victory over Israel on Saturday.
The result means Israel can no longer qualify via a finish in the top two of their group and will instead have to progress through the play-offs to reach next summer’s finals in Germany.
Before the match, teddy bears were placed on chairs while fans, similar to their match against Switzerland on Wednesday, held up photos with the faces of those who had been kidnapped and asked to be taken home.
Fans were there too draped in Israeli flags for the match, which was replayed in Felcsut, Hungary, due to the ongoing crisis.
Teddy bears were placed on the seats of the Israeli section for their match against Romania on Saturday
Fans held up photos asking for missing people kidnapped during the Hamas attacks to be returned home
These Israeli fans wore shirts with the slogan ‘bring them home now!’ written on it
It came after Israeli captain Eli Dasa showed off the shoe of a young boy he said was kidnapped by Hamas militants during last month’s attacks earlier this week.
“It’s hard to say right now, but I don’t think any of you can guess what the story behind this shoe is,” Dasa said. ‘This boy is currently in the Gaza Strip with seven, seven people from his family.
“That’s all that’s left of his house. This left shoe. We’re waiting for him here,” he continued, before standing and leaving the press conference.”
Israel’s Under-21 team, meanwhile, agreed with their Polish opposition to hold their own minute’s silence during the first minute of their match on Friday.
UEFA had not organized a minute’s silence before the match, so as soon as the whistle blew to start the match, the players stood still and only started the match after the minute.
The moment of reflection related to attacks in Israel by the terrorist group Hamas, when they breached Gaza’s militarized border to kill about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and take about 240 hostage, Israeli officials said.
The tribute to Israel and Palestine is a divisive issue and flags from both countries have been banned from matches in a bid to prevent violence on the ground.
Last week it was reported that the Palestinian death toll in the war between Israel and Hamas has reached 12,000, just hours after Israel found the remains of another hostage from the October 7 attacks.
Israel’s home match against Romania was held at the Pancho Arena in Felcsut, Hungary
Romania qualified for the European Championship after a 2-1 victory over Israel