| Location: | Gaza City, Gaza Strip, Palestine |
| Coordinates: | 31.5153°N 34.4558°W |
| Opened: | 1952 |
| Capacity: | 9,000 (all seated) |
| Tenants: | Gaza Sports Club |
Yarmouk Stadium was an association football stadium in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, Palestine. Yarmouk Stadium was one of the oldest Palestinian stadiums, opened in 1952 under Egyptian rule and was restored under the direct supervision of the Municipality of Gaza. It is the home stadium of the Gaza Sports Club. The stadium seated 9,000 spectators.[1]
During the Israel–Hamas war, hundreds of Palestinians took shelter in Yarmouk Stadium.[2]
On 24 December 2023, during the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) took control of the stadium, turning it into a detention camp.[3] [4] Hundreds of Palestinians from the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City were detained in the stadium. The detainees, including children as young as 10 years old and elderly people over the age of 70, were forced to strip off all of their clothes except their underwear, with some detainees also blindfolded.[5]
On 27 December 2023, the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) sent letters to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and FIFA asking for an "urgent international probe into occupation crimes against sports and athletes in Palestine".[6] [4] American academic and former professional soccer player Jules Boykoff described the double standards as "glaring" and questioned the IOC's treatment of Israel compared to Russia (which was sanctioned) stating, "If taking over sports facilities are a red line, why silence as Israel converts Gaza’s historic Yarmouk Stadium into an internment camp?"[7]
On 8 January 2024, the Gaza Municipality announced that the IDF had demolished the stadium.[8] [9]
By July 2024, the remains of the stadium had become a refugee camp, housing thousands of displaced Palestinians.[10]