Mesut Ozil Shows His Support for Palestine, Calls for Conflict With Israel to Stop

• Mesut Ozil has posted a message of support for Palestine amid the war
• The former Arsenal star has pleaded for the war with Israel to stop
• Ozil’s message included a photo of him wearing a 'Free Palestine' shirt

Former Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil has shown his support for Palestine in the midst of the ongoing crisis with Israel.

Following the terror group Hamas' strikes on Israel on Saturday, and the resulting chaos, the retired German international became the latest notable sports figure to voice solidarity for Palestinians.

Ozil, who announced his retirement from football in 2023 at the age of 34, per Aljazeera, took to the social media app X (formerly Twitter) to demand an end to the violence, claiming that both sides had lost innocent lives, including innocent kids.

“Praying for humanity. Praying for peace. Innocent people and especially innocent kids are losing their lives in the war - on both sides. It's so heartbreaking & sad. PLEASE STOP THE WAR!!!”

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Ozil previously declared his support for Palestine during their crisis with Israel in 2021, wearing a 'Free Palestine' t-shirt with many Fenerbahce teammates while he played in Turkey near the end of his career.

Mohamed Elneny shows Palestine support

Meanwhile, Arsenal midfielder Mohamed Elneny was one of the first footballers to speak out about the ongoing war, causing controversy by using the Palestinian flag as his social media profile photo, Daily Mirror reports.

Elneny's pro-Palestine stance comes after his Arsenal teammate Oleksandr Zinchenko posted on Instagram, "I stand with Israel." The Ukrainian defender faced backlash from supporters and was forced to make his 2.5 million-follower Instagram account private.

At least 1,200 people were killed as a result of Hamas' strike, which was denounced by both the Conservatives and Labour. In retaliation, Israel launched air raids on Gaza, killing over 1,200 Palestinians and displacing thousands more.

Football legend loses granddaughter in war

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Earlier, Sports Brief reported Legendary football coach, Shlomo Scharf has lost his granddaughter, Mai Naim to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.

It was reported Naim, who was said to be 22 and was declared 'wanted' on Saturday, has been confirmed killed in the ongoing crisis.

Further reports have it she attended the Supernova Festival held annually in the Negev desert in southern Israel on that fateful day.