"I never imagined I'd be running after a football again after losing my leg."
With these words, Rozan Khaira (24) describes how it feels to train with the first women's amputee football team in Palestine — a team bringing together girls and women who lost limbs during the war or through other injuries, but found in sport a chance to start again.
Before her injury, Rozan was a track and field athlete who competed in running races. After losing her leg during the war on Gaza, she spent months trying to adapt to a completely different life. Today, she finds herself on a football field instead of a running track, holding on to a new dream: representing Palestine in international competitions.
"After my injury, I felt like my life had stopped. But being on the field made me feel like I could start over."
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Among the players is Kifah Al-Fakhouri (35), a Palestinian photographer who lost her leg in the airstrike that targeted Al-Baqa Café in western Gaza City in 2025. Football was never part of her plans, until a coach encouraged her to join the team after seeing one of her videos on social media.
Kifah says:
"I thought many things had ended after my injury, but sport helped me see myself differently."
Today, Rozan and Kifah train alongside girls and women between the ages of 14 and 35 as part of Palestine's first women's amputee football team. Most of the players lost their limbs during the war, while others live with congenital disabilities or injuries from different causes.
Between crutches and footballs, each player is trying to reclaim a part of the life she lost and build a future she never expected. Together, they share one goal: to represent Palestine in an international tournament next year and prove that losing a limb does not mean losing the ability to dream.
