A petition demanding that Fifa chucks out Israel has shot through the 15,000 mark in the wake of the pariah state’s latest massacres in Gaza.

Launched last December, the petition argues that the Israeli Football Association should be suspended from world football’s governing body until Tel Aviv “respects the human rights of Palestinians and observes international law.”

Organisers Red Card Israeli Racism (RCIR) point out that Palestine has been under a “brutal military occupation” since 1967, while Palestinians inside Israel face are subject to over 50 different laws discriminating against them.

“When influential sports organisations say nothing in the face of an injustice of such magnitude, they are complicit,” argues the campaign.

The Israeli occupation harms Palestinian football through restricting the movement of players between Gaza and the West Bank and outside Palestine for internationals as well as limiting imports of vital sporting equipment.

Players are also harassed and killed.

Palestinian medical officials said that former national team player Ahed Zaqout was killed on Wednesday after his flat was hit in an Israeli air strike.

Neighbours and medics who rushed to the scene said he was killed while sleeping in his bed. The 49-year-old was not known to belong to any particular political party and had never expressed clear political views.

Cousins Mohammed Baker, aged 11, Ahed Baker, 11, Zakaria Baker, 10, and Ismail Baker, 9, were killed by Israeli naval shells last month while playing football on the beach in Gaza.

Pointing to a growing economic and cultural boycott campaign, RCIR has urged Fifa to join the boycott to make Israel “take notice.”

“When Fifa formally suspended the membership of the South African FA between 1964 and 1992, its action contributed to international pressure to end apartheid,” they argued.

“Therefore, the petition asks Fifa to follow this precedent and suspend the Israeli FA.”

The change.org petition can be found at tinyurl.com/obpzu5p