After eight months of devastating war, Muslims in Gaza will celebrate the somber Eid al-Adha on Sunday, an important religious holiday usually celebrated by sharing meat among friends, family and the needy .
Adha means sacrifice, and the ritual slaughter of a sheep, goat, or cow on this day symbolizes the prophet Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son. But this year, nearly everyone in Gaza is in trouble. Hunger has gripped the Palestinian territories as Israel launches an eight-month military offensive into the Palestinian enclave and severely limits access, including for humanitarian aid.
Many people don’t want to celebrate.
“There won’t be any Eid, there won’t be any Eid atmosphere,” said Zaina Kamuni. in the tent. “I haven’t eaten meat in five months.”
“It will be a day like any other, like Eid,” she added, referring to another major Muslim holiday that Gazans celebrated under the same conditions more than two months ago. festival.
Gazans have suffered regular heavy bombing and poverty since an Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel killed 1,200 people. According to Gaza’s health authorities, more than 37,000 people have died and hunger is rampant.
“People in the Gaza Strip continue to face extreme hunger as humanitarian access continues to be restricted,” UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, said in a social media post on Saturday, adding that more than 50,000 children were suffering from severe malnutrition. Bad and need treatment.
On Sunday, the Israeli military announced a daily suspension of military operations near Gaza’s southern border crossing to allow more aid to enter the area, but it is unclear whether more supplies will enter the area. This week, southern Gaza will soon see catastrophic hunger experienced by Gazans in the northern part of the territory before.
Many Gazans are hopeful about talks and reports of a proposed ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. But every holiday that passes — including Christmas and Easter for Gaza’s small Christian population — reminds us how entrenched the war has become.
For the past few years, Adnan Abdul Aziz, 53, who lives in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, has been able to buy a lamb and slaughter it for Eid. On the morning of Eid al-Fitr, he and his family had lamb liver for breakfast and cooked a traditional Palestinian dish using lamb liver for lunch. They donate the rest to family, friends and those in need.
Now, due to a lack of electricity and high market costs, Mr Abdul Aziz must buy food every day, depending on what is available and what he can afford. But he said the feast isn’t the only thing he’ll miss this year.
“There are family visits and gatherings, giving money to the children, buying new clothes for everyone, making sweets, saying Eid prayers,” he said. “None of that is feasible this year. Everyone is sad and has lost someone or something.
Aya Ali Adwan, 26, was engaged to be married before the war began. Her wedding planned for February was postponed, another celebration disrupted by the conflict.
She and her family are from northern Gaza and have been forced to flee eight times during the war. They are now holed up in a cramped tent in Deir al-Balah, where temperatures are approaching 95 degrees Fahrenheit, making the tent unbearably hot.
“I had a nervous breakdown,” she said. “We should be busy with Eid preparations like any Palestinian family before Eid, such as baking cookies and daily tasks like cleaning the house and buying clothes. But this year, there is nothing.
She said many of her relatives who returned home during Eid had been killed in the war.
“Right now, the only thing we need is to feel safe, even though we have nothing,” she said. “The only thing we need is for the war to stop and for us to return home.”
Amira Haruda and Bilal Shabair Contributed reporting.
