‘Steadfast despite grief’: Palestinians in Gaza mark solemn Eid al-Fitr
Al Jazeera
As Israel’s war weighs heavily on them, many Palestinians do not feel joy this Eid but say they still have faith.
Palestinians across the Gaza Strip are marking the end of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan with no respite from the Israeli military’s deadly attacks.
On Wednesday, the starving population in the besieged enclave was doing its best to follow Eid al-Fitr traditions, but the reality of the war that has killed more than 33,300 Palestinians, mostly women and children, does not leave much room for celebration.
“There is no joy or appetite for celebrating the holy occasion,” Ahmed Ismail, a shopkeeper in Rafah in southern Gaza, told Al Jazeera. “Even children have no interest in toys as they did in the past. This is the worst season we have ever lived.”
Jabr Hassan, a displaced man in Rafah, where more than 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering, said: “We are suffering on all fronts. People can hardly survive. They can hardly feed their families. We no longer think of Eid or celebrations or any other form of joy.”
Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum said people performed Eid prayers in Rafah even as Israeli military drones buzzed overhead to maintain a sense of insecurity.
