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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Dan Kilpatrick

Moment’s silence held for Israel-Hamas conflict at England vs Australia after scathing Israel FA statement

There was a period of silence at Wembley to honour the victims of the Israel-Hamas conflict ahead of England's friendly against Australia on Friday, while both sets of players wore black armbands.

Before kick-off, a message of peace was displayed on the big screens and read out over the PA system, followed by a call for support for the Red Cross appeal aiming to help people affected in the region.

The pre-match message read: "Tonight we remember the innocent victims of the devastating events in Israel and Palestine. Our thoughts are with them, and their families and friends in England and Australia and with all the communities who are affected by this ongoing conflict. Tonight we stand for humanity and an end to the death, violence, fear and suffering."

The Football Association controversially decided against lighting up the Wembley arch in Israel's colours for the game, drawing criticism from the UK government and the president of the Israeli FA, who demanded an explanation from his English counterparts.

The Wembley arch has previously been illuminated on several occasions, including in the blue and yellow of Ukraine last year - a day after the country was invaded by Russia - and with the French flag after terrorist attacks in the country in 2015.

On Saturday, Hamas militants killed more than 1,200 Israelis in a series of deadly attacks. The following day Israel formally declared war on Hamas and at least 1,300 people are thought to have been killed in air strikes on Gaza.

The period of silence passed was almost universally respected by a sell-out crowd at the national stadium, while the FA confirmed before the game that Israel or Palestine replica kits or flagged were not permitted in the ground.

Ahead of the game, the UK culture secretary Lucy Frazer condemned the FA's decision not to light up the arch, writing on X: "I am extremely disappointed by the FA's decision not to light up the Wembley Stadium arch following last weekend's horrific terrorist attacks in Israel and have made my views clear to the FA.

"It is especially disappointing in light of the FA's bold stance on other terrorist attacks in the recent past. Words and actions matter. The Government is clear: we stand with Israel."

(AP)

The move was also criticised by the president of the Israeli FA, Moshe Zuares, who described the decision as "disappointing" in a statement posted on X.

"I tried to explain this to my colleagues in the English FA several times in the past few days but they insisted on not understand [sic]," wrote Zuares. "Now they are the ones who need to explain."

Asked his view on the FA's stance before the match, England manager Gareth Southgate said: Asked his view on the FA's stance, Southgate said: "My first thoughts are extreme sadness for anybody who has lost loved ones in the attacks that have happened.

"In my lifetime the Middle East has been probably the most complex and difficult situation to fully understand [and] to be able to comment upon with any sense of authority. So I think the FA will have wanted to consult as many people as it could, try and get the right position and they will have wanted to remain inclusive.

"Personally, I have friends in the Jewish community and I have friends in the Muslim community. It is impossible for me to fully understand what it is like for people in either of those communities. I have not walked in their shoes... So it is difficult to do the subject justice in ten minutes frankly.

"The FA will have tried to do the right thing, take the right advice and they have come to the decision that they have."

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