The captain of Israel’s soccer team has displayed the shoe of a young boy he said was kidnapped by Hamas militants during their deadly October 7 raid, an act of solidarity with Israelis held captive in Gaza ahead of the team’s game in Hungary.
Team captain Eli Dasa was addressing a news conference in Felcsut on Tuesday, the small Hungarian village where Israel’s team is set to face Switzerland on Wednesday in a Euro 2024 qualifying match, when he raised the small athletic shoe and displayed it to reporters.
“It is hard to speak at the moment, but I don’t think that any of you can guess what is the story behind this shoe,” Dasa said. “This kid is in Gaza Strip at the moment with seven, seven people from his family.”
“That’s all what’s left from his house. This left shoe. We wait for him here,” he continued, before standing up and leaving the news conference.
The shoe was taken from Be’eri kibbutz, the small community in Israel from which 8-year-old Nave Shoham was kidnapped along with seven of his relatives on October 7, according to the Israeli team’s press officer, Eitan Dotan.
Three members of the boy’s family were killed during the raids, Dotan said. The news conference took place as Israel’s team held training sessions on Tuesday in Pancho Arena, the 3,500-seat stadium where they will face Switzerland on Wednesday and Romania on Saturday.
