New Delhi, Oct. 4 -- Facing growing global calls to suspend Israeli teams from soccer, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said on Thursday the governing body must promote peace and unity and could not solve political issues.

In a febrile period for soccer politics, Infantino led a meeting of FIFA's ruling council in Zurich which did not have Israel formally on the agenda before 2026 World Cup qualifying games resume next week.

He later met privately at FIFA headquarters with the leader of the Palestinian soccer federation, Jibril Rajoub, and praised his organization "for their resilience at this time."

The strongest push against Israeli teams by European soccer leaders during the two-year conflict in Gaza was paused after a peace proposal...