Doha (AFP) - Coach Ehab Abu Jazar is guiding a national team that carries on its shoulders all the hopes and sorrows of Palestinian football, but it is his mother, forced by war to live in a Gaza tent, who is his main inspiration and motivation.

The war that broke out following Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 put an end to Palestinian league matches, and left athletes in exile fearing for their loved ones in Gaza.

But Abu Jazar’s mother refuses to let the conflict overshadow the sporting dreams of her son, to whom she feeds tactical advice from the rubble of the Palestinian territory by phone.

“She talks to me about nothing but the team. She wants the focus to remain solely on the tournament,” the 45-year-old manager told AFP.

“My mother asks me about the players, who will play as starters and who will be absent, about the tactics, the morale of the players and the circumstances surrounding them.”

The coach’s mother Huda Mahmoud Abu Jazar, 62, is now displaced in Gaza’s Al-Mawasi camp, near Khan Yunis, living in a tent with her other son, his wife and their children.

“My feelings are indescribable from the amount of happiness I feel for my son and his amazing team,” she told AFP.

She beamed with pride about him and the Palestinian squad, saying her entire camp cheered when the team beat Qatar in an Arab Cup match last week.

“You could hear ululations everywhere. They brought back a joy we had forgotten in Gaza,” she said.

“He made us all proud. It is a great honour for us.”

The manager, himself a former left-back, says he wants his players to convey the spirit of his mother and Gazans like her.

“We always say that we are a small Palestinian family representing the larger family,” he said.

“Undoubtedly, it puts pressure on us, but it’s positive pressure.”

The Palestinian team are 96th in the FIFA rankings, and their hope of playing in their first World Cup vanished this summer.

But the squad, most of whom have never set foot in Gaza, is within reach of the Arab Cup quarter-finals, keeping their message of resilience alive.

Palestine play Syria in their final Arab Cup group match Sunday, where a draw would be enough to achieve an unprecedented feat for the team.

He said progress would show the world that the Palestinians, if given the right conditions, can “excel in all fields”.

- ‘Genes of resilience’ -

Abu Jazar finished his playing career in 2017 before managing the Palestinian U-23 team and eventually taking the top job last year.

After the war broke out, his family home was destroyed, displacing his mother in Gaza, like most of the territory’s population during the height of the conflict.

He now feels pressure to deliver for them after witnessing from exile the horrors of the war, which came to a halt in October thanks to a fragile US-backed ceasefire.

“At one point, it was a burden, especially at the beginning of the war,” he said.

“We couldn’t comprehend what was happening. But we possess the genes of resilience.

“If we surrender and give in to these matters, we as a people will vanish.”

In her maternal advisory role, Abu Jazar’s mum is only contactable when she has power and signal.

But she was able to send a message to the team before their match against Syria.

“I send my words to my son and his team and pray for them every moment – may God guide their shots, and God willing, victory will be theirs today,” she said.

Her and her family will find a way to watch the team’s match against Syria from her camp, praying for another victory.

“From between the tents we will watch it on a TV screen. Everyone is waiting for the moment the match begins,” she said.

Her determination is pushing Abu Jazar to give Gazans any respite from the reality of war.

“My mother and siblings… struggle greatly to watch our matches on television. They think about how to manage the generator and buy fuel to run it and connect it to the TV,” he said.

“This is what keeps us standing, and gives us the motivation to bring joy to our people.

“All these circumstances push us to fight on the field until the last breath.”