00:00As Israeli military raids continue across the occupied West Bank,
00:04the Football World Cup is helping Palestinians in the city of Ramallah to forget their woes.
00:10Although their national team narrowly missed qualifying for the competition,
00:14fans have been cheering for Brazil and Spain,
00:16as well as countries closer to home like Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and Morocco.
00:21And this football fever is improving sales of the different teams' balls and jerseys.
00:30There's Arab solidarity, of course.
00:31You know, this year there was a high representation of Arabs
00:34after they adjusted the number of participating teams.
00:37So you find there is interest, too, in the Arab teams.
00:40As for the Arabs, you could say Morocco is the strongest and Algeria comes second.
00:47One resident says while they could be a surprise, he thinks Brazil will win,
00:51but he supports the Arab teams because of their shared cultural identity.
00:55Sales of football gear is helping business in the territory,
00:57where the financial crisis has deepened since the eruption of the Israel-Hamas war.
01:03Now, this is the latest World Cup ball by Adidas,
01:07and it pays tribute to three countries, and honestly, that makes it beautiful.
01:11There's very strong demand for it,
01:13and it's surprising how much demand there is on the flags also.
01:18I mean, soccer remains the number one in demand, more than any other products.
01:24Here you have a Palestinian ball.
01:27Everyone is hoping that next time they'll participate in the World Cup.
01:35As the tournament reaches the knockout stages,
01:37the game continues to provide moments of community,
01:40resilience and hope for Palestinians across the West Bank.
01:44Sixteen teams have now been eliminated,
01:46with Arab nations Morocco, Egypt and Algeria in the last 32.
01:52Thank you very much.
01:52Thank you very much.
01:53Thank you very much.
01:53Thank you very much.
01:53Thank you very much.
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