Israelis seek response from Messi: 'You were Daniel's Hero'
Citizens share photo of 4-year-old boy killed by mortar, wearing jersey of Argentine soccer player Leo Messi, on social networks. 'Daniel was killed by a terror organization your team's #1 sponsors is sponsoring," one post said.
Israelis have taken to social media to call on Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi to acknowledge the death of Israeli four-year-old and Messi fan Daniel Tregerman, who was killed Friday by a mortar fired from Gaza.
Daniel, the first Israeli child to be killed since the beginning of Operation Protective Edge, was a huge fan of the soccer star, who plays for the Qatar Airways-sponsored FC Barcelona. The images of Daniel show him wearing the shirt that Messi wears when he plays for the Argentina national team.
4-year-old Daniel Tregerman was killed while running for shelter
The mortar that killed Tregerman was fired by Hamas, the terrorist organization that rules Gaza. The Strip has been a recipient of generous donations from Qatar.
Seeking a response from Messi, Israelis shared photos of the 4-year-old in his Messi jersey, and tagged the soccer player.
"Hey Leo Messi, take a look at that boy, wearing the national jersey of the best player in the world," Liran Cohen wrote in a Facebook post on Friday, tagging Messi and FC Barcelona.
On Twitter, Lior Vaknin, along with many other Israelis, also shared photos of Tregerman, also making sure to tag Messi.
Two weeks ago, Messi addressed the military campaign in the Gaza Strip for the first time. In a post on his official Facebook Page, the soccer player commented on the victims of the Israeli operation, adding a photo of a wounded Palestinian child in a hospital.
"As a father and a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, I am terribly saddened by the images coming from the conflict between Israel and Palestine, where violence has already claimed so many young lives and to injure countless children," Messi wrote.
It remains to be seen if the soccer player will now write a similar post, following the death of a child by a mortar from the Gaza Strip, and add a photo of Daniel Tregerman.
