War in Gaza 'hurts my whole body', says Man City boss Guardiola

Guardiola, 54, was speaking as he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Manchester on Monday. "It's so painful what we see in Gaza, it hurts my whole body," Guardiola said in excerpts of his speech shared on social media.

"Let me be clear, it's not about ideology. It's not about whether I'm right or you're wrong. It's just about the love of life, about the care of your neighbour."

Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza after the attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7, 2023, resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says at least 54,981 people, the majority civilians, have been killed in the territory since the start of the war. The UN considers these figures reliable.

"Maybe we think that we see the boys and girls of four years old being killed by the bomb or being killed at the hospital because it's not a hospital anymore, it's not our business," Guardiola.

"Yes, fine, we can think about that, it's not our business. But be careful. The next one will be ours. The next four or five-year-old kids will be ours. Sorry, but I see my kids, Maria, Marius and Valentina when I see every morning, since the nightmare started, the infants in Gaza, and I'm so scared."

Guardiola has not shied away from voicing political views in the past, throwing his weight behind the campaign for Catalan independence.

He was awarded the honorary degree by the University of Manchester for his unprecedented success at City, where he has won six Premier League titles, as well as his work through his family foundation, the Guardiola Sala Foundation.

The organisation takes part in "established projects which strive to support the most disadvantaged". Others within football have spoken out on Gaza. In October 2023, Liverpool and Egypt forward  Mohamed Salah called on "world leaders to come together to prevent further slaughter of innocent souls".

The following month, Bundesliga club Mainz sacked Dutch winger Anwar El Ghazi, now at Cardiff, over social media posts related to the conflict.