Derry City's Sadou Diallo speaks out about Israeli-Palestinian conflict which makes his 'heart boil'

​The Derry City midfielder is a devout Muslim and while he labels himself as 'pro Palestinian' regarding the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the besieged Gaza Strip, Diallo insists his stance is not about religion but about being a human being.

Openly advocating for the Palestinian cause on his Instagram account this week, Diallo emphasised that "defending the human rights of Palestinians does not mean supporting Hamas," as he shared an image that was originally posted by a political activist, a message which issued multiple calls to 'Free Palestine'.

The former Manchester City youth was commenting prior to Tuesday's barbaric attack on the Baptist hospital in Gaza which reportedly claimed the lives of over 500 civilians including patients and children and he believes more people should speak out and condemn the killings on both sides of the conflict.

"Everyone is aware of what's going on I think but there's a deeper history to what everyone is seeing right now on social media," began the footballer.

"This conflict between Israel and Palestine has been going on for years and it's not right.

"I'm pro Palestinian as you can probably see on my socials. It's really sad seeing innocent lives being lost on both sides. Seeing some of the videos just makes my heart boil."

Diallo says he feels 'helpless' watching the horrific images circulating on news bulletins and on social media since Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7th and the retaliatory attacks by Israeli forces which followed.

He's been heavily invested in the escalating situation in the Middle East and believes it's important to voice his support and call for an end to the violence and for immediate humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza.

While over 90 per cent of Palestinians in Gaza are Sunni Muslim, Diallo stressed his views are not based on religion.

"It goes beyond religion. I know you might think it's a religious thing but it's mostly a human thing.

" If you see innocent lives being lost, people dying and whole families being wiped out, it goes beyond religion. It goes beyond being Jewish, Zionist or Muslim. It's just a human feeling to see something that's wrong and call it out for what it is.

"I'm not going to say I know all the history of it but I've been reading up on it every day. I've been very invested in it more than any other news in the past.

"We're so helpless. Even posting on socials, sometimes I'm posting and thinking what's that going to do?

"However, I think more people need to speak out about it."