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New soccer league helps Gaza amputees cope with war trauma

Palestinian amputees compete in a soccer match while using their crutches during a training session, organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross with the Palestinian Amputee Football Association, at Palestine Stadium in Gaza City, Sunday, Dec. 5, 2021. They are the first Palestinian national soccer team made up entirely of amputees — players drawn from a population of hundreds that has grown in recent years through several rounds of fighting between Israel and the territory's militant Hamas rulers. (AP Photo/Adel Hana) Palestinian amputees play a soccer match while using their crutches during a training session, at Palestine Stadium in Gaza City, Sunday, Dec. 5, 2021. They are the first Palestinian national soccer team made up entirely of amputees — players drawn from a population of hundreds that has grown in recent years through rounds of fighting between Israel and the territory’s militant Hamas rulers. (AP Photo/Adel Hana) Palestinian amputees play a soccer match while using their crutches during a training session, organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross with the Palestinian Amputee Football Association, at Palestine Stadium in Gaza City, Sunday, Dec. 5, 2021. They are the first Palestinian national soccer team made up entirely of amputees — players drawn from a population of hundreds that has grown in recent years through rounds of fighting between Israel and the territory’s militant Hamas rulers. (AP Photo/Adel Hana) Palestinian amputees compete in a soccer match while using their crutches during a training session, at Palestine Stadium in Gaza City, Sunday, Dec. 5, 2021. The International Committee of the Red Cross, working with Palestinian Amputee Football Association, sponsored the long process of forming the national team. The players hope to compete regionally, their sights set on the World Cup for amputees in Turkey next October. (AP Photo/Adel Hana) Coach Simon Baker, an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) consultant and founder of the Irish Amputee Football Association, trains amputee players of the first Palestinian national team for amputee football, at Palestine Stadium in Gaza City, Sunday, Dec. 5, 2021. The ICRC, working with Palestinian Amputee Football Association, sponsored the long process of forming the national team. The players hope to compete regionally, their sights set on the World Cup for amputees in Turkey next October. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)