Gazans begin Ramadan in bleak setting

Ramadan began in Gaza on Monday with fasting, praying and mourning for the estimated 31,000 Palestinians who have died since Israel began its war on the narrow coastal strip following Hamas’s deadly raid into southern Israel on October 7th.

While ceasefire negotiations remain stalled, Gazans face Israeli bombing and shelling and deprivation of food, water, medicine, and other essential supplies throughout Ramadan, which is meant to be a month of peace-making.

During Ramadan, Muslims abstain from food and drink from dawn to dusk, consume traditional dishes and drinks when breaking their fast, and attend religious services.

Ramadan is usually a time of piety and plenty, prayer and sumptuous breakfasts (iftar), family visits and celebration. But the 300,000 Gazans who remain in the north receive little humanitarian aid and fear famine and starvation. Palestinian health authorities on Monday reported 27 deaths from malnutrition and dehydration.

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This year, Gazans cannot observe Ramadan at home or with extended families and neighbours. The UN reports 85 per cent of Gazans have lost their homes, most are unemployed, and 1.4 million of the 2.3 million are living in Rafah and nearby al-Mawasi in tents, schools, and damaged buildings. They fear the threat of Israel’s planned offensive in the south.

The United Nations food security agency says 100 per cent of Gazans are hungry as they embark on the rigorous Ramadan fast. Gazans subsisting on bread, tinned beans and small supplies of water are challenged because they do not have nourishing food to eat when breaking the fast. With water - which is not drunk during the fast - in short supply, dehydration is a risk.

Gazans might find dates to break the fast, but not sheets of apricot paste which when melted in water make a drink traditional during Ramadan. Some families have managed to find traditional Ramadan lanterns – which are essential to illuminate tents and shelters during dark nights without electricity. Artisans who used to make lamps have been killed or driven from their workplace. Lamp shops have been levelled.

Since 100 mosques have been damaged or destroyed, the faithful gather for prayers in streets cleared of debris. Despite misery and gloom, children receive boiled sweets and relatives, friends and neighbours greet one another by saying, “Ramadan Karim. Let Allah guide you and protect you this Ramadan and always.”

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