Ruairi Daly 
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Celtic fans have donated in their thousands to raise money for camps used by Palestinians in response to UEFA’s decision to take action following a display last Wednesday.
The GoFundMe page has already seen fans donate over £100,000, which will be split 50/50 between Medical Aid Palestine (MAP) and to the Lajee Centre, a Palestinian creative cultural children’s centre in the Aida Refugee Camp, Bethlehem.
Over a hundred Palestinian flags were hoisted into the air as an act of solidarity regarding the ongoing humanitarian crisis, but the display was adjudged to broken UEFA’s rules regarding political messages within stadiums.
The fundraising effort started on the same day that Israeli warplanes bombed civilians in Gaza with over 50 rockets in response to a Hamas rocket attack on Sderot.
Eyewitnesses said that Israeli tanks fired shells at a water storage facility in the Northern Gaza city of Beit Hanoun, which is already struggling with a water shortage and is nearing an ‘environmental catastrophe.’
Celtic fans will travel to Israel for the game today (Tuesday) and there are fears last week’s display could spark a hostile reaction from Be’er Sheva fans or others.
There weren’t any reports of any unrest in Glasgow last week between both sets of fans as Celtic beat the Israeli champions 5-2 at Paradise.
The Champions League second leg play-off tie will take place at Turner Stadium, as Celtic look to end a three-year absence from Europe’s premier competition.
Aodhán Ó Conchobhair 
Eric Knott 
