Lionel Messi's Facebook Post on Israel-Gaza Conflict Stirs Controversy.

Lionel Messi's Facebook Post on Israel-Gaza Conflict Stirs Controversy.(NDTV).

Football star Lionel Messi has been dragged into the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict, two weeks after the Argentinian wrote in a Facebook post that he was "deeply saddened" by the loss of young lives with a photo of an injured Palestinian boy.

Israeli social media users have exhorted Messi to acknowledge the death of Daniel Tregaron, a four-year-old Messi fan who was killed yesterday by a mortar fired from Gaza.

"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 in his Facebook post.

Tregaron was the first Israeli child to be killed since the beginning of the Operation Protective Edge on July 8.

Messi also plays for the Qatar Airways-sponsored FC Barcelona.

Daniel's images on social media show him wearing a Messi jersey.

Seeking a response from Lionel Messi, Israelis shared photos of the four-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 yesterday, tagging Messi and FC Barcelona.

On Twitter, Lior Vaknin, along with many other Israelis, shared photos of Tregerman, also making sure to tag Messi.

"Daniel was killed by a terror organisation your team's #1 sponsors is sponsoring," a post read.

"The mortar that killed Tregerman was fired by Hamas, the terrorist organisation that rules Gaza.

The Strip has been a recipient of generous donations from Qatar", said another.

At least 2,097 Palestinians have been killed while on the Israeli side 68 people have died so far.

Famous Barcelona bullring may be converted into Europe’s biggest mosque.

Famous Barcelona bullring may be converted into Europe’s biggest mosque. (RT).

The building would include a 300m high minaret which may become the third largest in the world after those in Mecca and Medina, reports 20 Minutos, Spain's most-read general newspaper, citing its sources close to the project. The mosque for Barcelona’s Muslims will also have a conference hall, a Koran study center, housing up to 300 people, and a museum of Islamic art and history.

The Balaña Group in Barcelona has already agreed the sale, reports 20 Minutos. The next stage will be discussing the project with the city council and getting its approval. The Balaña group, however, hasn’t confirmed the information, the paper writes.

According to the Statistics Department of Barcelona´s Town Council, at least 500,000 Muslims were living in Barcelona in 2012. But despite this significant number, the city has only several small houses of worship for Muslims.

"Locals would have to be proud that Muslims transformed the pain of the bulls into a spiritual center," Mowafak Kanfach, owner of Barcelona's Arabic Book Shop, told 20 Minutos. 

"The law says that everyone has the right to pray in a dignified place, not in a commercial premises."

The Plaza Monumental de Barcelona, opened in 1914, has hosted the concerts of many celebrities, including the Beatles, Tina Turner, the Rolling Stones and Bob Marley. Since the ban on bullfights in Catalonia in 2010, no bullfighting has been held in the arena.


The Monumental Bullring is not the first place in the city to be considered as a site for a mosque. In 2004, the city authorities negotiated with Saudi Arabia over the Las Arenas bullring. However, the plan was postponed and finally Barcelona council decided to build a shopping center instead of a mosque.