Manchester City director Pep Guardiola says the images of children killed during the War of Israel against Gaza are “painful” and left it “deeply disturbed”.
The Spanish director of the English Premier League club urged the world to speak instead of choosing to remain silent “in the face of injustice” when he addressed an audience after obtaining an honorary diploma at the University of Manchester on Monday.
“It’s so painful what we see in Gaza. It hurts my whole body,” said Guardiola.
“Perhaps we think that when we see boys and four-year-old girls killed by bombs or killed in a hospital, which is no longer a hospital is not our business. Yes, very good, it is not our business. But be careful – the children of the next four or five children will be for us. ”
Mentioning his three children – Maria, Marius and Valentina – Guardiola said that every morning “since the nightmare started” in Gaza, whenever he sees his two daughters and his son, he remembers the children in Gaza, which leaves him “so frightened”.
About half of the 2.3 million Gaza residents are children.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has killed at least 17,400 children, including 15,600 who have been identified, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza. Many others remain buried under the rubble and are presumed dead.
Many surviving children have endured the trauma of several wars, and all spent their lives under an oppressive Israeli blockade.
Over the past 20 months, Israeli attacks have left their ruined homes, destroyed their schools and exceeded their health establishments.
“ Deeply disturbed ” by wars
During his emotional speech, which was widely shared on social networks, Guardiola said that the world remains silent in the face of injustice.
“We feel more safe (keeping silent) than speaking,” he added.
“Maybe this image feels far from where we live now, and you could ask what we can do,” he added.
He then told the story of a bird trying to turn off a fire in a forest by carrying water on several occasions in his beak.
“In a world that often tells us that we are too small to make a difference, this story reminds me that the power of a one does not concern the scale – it is a question of choosing, to refuse, to refuse to be silent or always when it counts the most.”
The former coach and player of Barcelona said that the images of Palestine, Sudan and Ukraine left it “deeply disturbed”.
Guardiola, who previously expressed his support for the independence of his native Catalonia, was unleashed to the world leaders for their inability to arrest wars.
“We see the horrors of thousands and thousands of innocent children, mothers and fathers.
“Whole families suffering, sampening and killed and yet we are surrounded by leaders in many areas, not only politicians, who do not consider inequality and injustice.”
An independent report of the United Nations Commission published on Tuesday accused Israel of having committed the crime against humanity of “extermination” by attacking Palestinian civilians sheltering in schools and religious sites in Gaza.
“Although the destruction of cultural goods, including educational facilities, has not been in itself a genocidal act, evidence of such conduct can nevertheless deduce the genocidal intention to destroy a protected group,” said the report.
While the report focused on the impact on Gaza, the Commission also reported important consequences for the Palestinian education system in West West Wedding and Jerusalem due to accelerated Israeli military activity, the harassment of students and settlers’ attacks.
“Gaza’s children lost their childhood. Without education available, they are forced to worry about survival in the midst of attacks, uncertainty, famine and sub-human living conditions,” added the report.
“What is particularly worrying is the widespread nature of targeting educational installations, which has spread far beyond Gaza, which has an impact on all Palestinian children.”
“It’s so painful, what we see in Gaza … and let me be clear is not a question of ideology.”
Manchester City director Pep Guardiola discusses his opinions on the War of Israel against Gaza, as well as the way in which the images of children living through war affected him as a parent. pic.twitter.com/zwrlexacxa
– Tel Aviv Tribune English (@Ajenglish) June 10, 2025