While Muslims celebrate the month of Ramadan with joy and happiness, the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza continues amidst a siege, a humanitarian crisis, and destroyed mosques. As the takbirs resonate in several Arab capitals signaling the first night of Taraweeh prayers on Sunday evening, the Palestinian Ministry of Endowments stated that "more than a thousand mosques have become rubble or piles of destruction, or have been damaged due to the Israeli bombardment." The ministry added, "Hundreds of thousands of worshipers will not be able to perform Taraweeh prayers in the demolished mosques."
In contrast to the preparations of families in the Islamic world to welcome the month, over two million people, who make up the vast majority of the besieged Palestinian territory, face the threat of famine, while the international community continues to organize efforts to deliver more humanitarian aid.
Hassouna, a displaced dentist from Gaza City, told AFP: "There are many things unavailable in the market, and even if they are available, they are at astronomical prices." This situation was confirmed by Dr. Hisham Abdel Fattah, who said, "We are currently suffering from issues we have not faced in the past, such as the extremely high, even outrageous, prices."
For his part, Basel Yassin, an agricultural engineer at an NGO, spoke about a "completely different Ramadan," saying, "Of course, this Ramadan is entirely different from all previous months of Ramadan... Ramadan is a month of reassurance, and that point, which is the most important, is not present."
Basel Yassin continued, "We don’t know if we will spend Ramadan at home, in a tent, or by the sea in the north or the south." Sixty-year-old Jamil Al-Khatib, a teacher at an UNRWA school, wondered, "How will we break our fast in Ramadan?" He added from his tent, "There is no shelter, no electricity, no water, no communication, and worst of all, there is nothing on the Suhoor or Iftar table in this tent, nor for the hundreds of thousands of displaced victims in Gaza, where there is no food at all."
This sad and grim reality casts a shadow over the reception of many Muslims to the month of fasting.
