How the war in Gaza deprived Palestinians of beloved Ramadan rituals and traditions

Once accustomed to bountiful iftars during the holy month of Ramadan, Gazans now face food insecurity under Israeli siege, main and bottom. (AFP)
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Updated 05 April 2024
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How the war in Gaza deprived Palestinians of beloved Ramadan rituals and traditions

  • Once accustomed to bountiful iftars, Gazans now face catastrophic food insecurity under Israeli siege
  • While famine looms in the north, the trickle of aid reaching southern Gaza is ‘poor quality’ and ‘lacks nutrients’

LONDON: What would ordinarily be a time of celebration, feasting and family gatherings for Muslims in Gaza is instead one of fear, hunger and grief as families are forced to forgo the festivities during the holy month of Ramadan this year amid the ongoing conflict.

Yara Mahdi, a 19-year-old student in southern Gaza, said the Ramadan she knew and cherished from her childhood is a fading memory because of the destruction, displacement and shortages of food and essential supplies caused by the war.

“Ramadan in Gaza used to be the most wonderful time of the year, my most beloved month,” Mahdi told Arab News. “It was a time for family gatherings, bountiful feasts, and nights filled with laughter, love and life. Not the images you see today.”

Gazans long accustomed to abundant banquets, colorful street decorations and twinkling fairy lights during the holy month are instead enduring famine-like conditions, the destruction of their homes and the loss of loved ones.

A UN-backed report published on March 18 warned that because of Israeli restrictions on the amount of aid permitted to enter Gaza, the territory’s population of 2.3 million faces acute food insecurity, with about 300,000 people trapped in the north on the brink of famine.




People shop from vendors in an open-air market amidst destruction in Gaza City. (AFP)

On March 11, the first day of the holy month, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged combatants “to honor the spirit of Ramadan by silencing the guns and removing all obstacles to ensure the delivery of lifesaving aid at the speed and massive scale required.”

Although the UN Security Council subsequently passed a resolution on March 25 demanding an immediate ceasefire during the holy month, the carnage in Gaza has raged on regardless.

Since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks on Israel provoked retaliatory air and ground operations by the Israeli military in Gaza, almost 33,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Gazan health ministry.

For the thousands of Palestinian families stricken by grief, the joy they felt during the Ramadan celebrations of previous years must feel like another life.

“The spirit of Ramadan filled the air of Gaza throughout the month,” said Mahdi, fondly recalling last year’s gatherings.




Yara’s extended family gathered for a Ramadan iftar last year. (Supplied)

“Starting mid-Ramadan, we held bustling iftars marked by a cozy familial ambiance. After the main meal, we used to have cold drinks, coffee and desserts, such as Nabulsi kunafa, Arabian kunafa, qatayef and kullaj, to name a few. We used to eat desserts every single evening during Ramadan.”

One activity Mahdi enjoyed even more than the family iftars was Taraweeh, the nighttime prayers she performed during the holy month with her friends at their mosque.

“Since I was a little girl, I used to go to Abu Khadra Mosque,” she said. “Last year, I performed Taraweeh with my friends every night, although it was a long walk after our house got bombed in the 2021 war and we had to move.

“The long walks were filled with chit chat and laughter. And during the last 10 days of Ramadan, we’d stay at the mosque until sunrise; we had sahoor there and performed the Fajr prayer.”

Israel’s ongoing military operations in Gaza have deprived Mahdi of her favorite Ramadan rituals; Abu Khadra Mosque is one of more than 1,000 mosques in the territory damaged or destroyed since Oct. 7.

Reem, a Palestinian physician who moved to England in 2019, also fondly recalled the Ramadan celebrations of years gone by. She said the holy month was the most cherished time of the year in her Gazan hometown, where the celebrations would often begin a week early.

“Markets would be bustling, with shops displaying different kinds of dates, nuts, dried fruit, juices and other goods in abundance, while the streets were alive with people shopping in preparation for Ramadan and visiting relatives,” she told Arab News.

“The streets would be adorned by captivating lights and Ramadan decorations, like lanterns. Shops and restaurants would also be playing Islamic songs, adding to the enchanting atmosphere.”




Gazans long accustomed to abundant banquets are enduring famine-like conditions this Ramadan. (Supplied)

Looking back on her favorite Ramadan activities, Reem said that in Gaza City the “restaurants would be jam-packed with customers enjoying the open buffet deals offered throughout the month.”

She added: “Rimal Street would be alive throughout Ramadan’s nights. The restaurants and shops shut in the morning and for part of the day, but after sunset the area would be alive with diners and shoppers.

“People would gather in Rimal for iftar meals, leisurely strolls with friends or shopping sprees at malls, many preparing for Eid Al-Fitr.”

Reem said the upscale restaurants her family frequented included Mazaj and Lighthouse, both of which offered buffets featuring traditional Ramadan delicacies. The beachfront was also a popular destination, dotted with lively restaurants.




A street vendor prepares raw qatayef, folded pancakes or dumplings, in Gaza City. (AFP)

“After breaking their fast, many people also went for seaside strolls in Al-Mina neighborhood, where they would savor ice cream or enjoy a cold beverage until it was time for Taraweeh,” she said. “Many would then go to the mosques or retire home to pray and prepare for the next day.”

Describing the hospitality and generosity of Gaza’s residents, she said her family “often had guests at home and were invited to the homes of friends and relatives. Every iftar was a feast of mouth-watering dishes. Not only did people (in Gaza) donate to the poor during the month, but they also distributed food and sweets to neighbors and relatives.”

Nourhan Attallah, a nutritionist and pharmacist in southern Gaza, said that Ramadan was “a very productive and lucrative month, full of work and passion” in previous years.

“As a nutritionist, I accepted clients throughout the year and shared reels and advice on social media about healthy eating,” she told Arab News.

“But during Ramadan, the number of my clients would significantly increase as many people sought to follow healthy diets, be it to lose weight or stay healthy during the month of fasting. This additional work helped me to cover the Ramadan budget, which was often higher than the rest of the year.

“Food was plentiful in Gaza before the war, and I easily found all the ingredients I needed to create healthy dishes.”




Many places of worship have been destroyed by Israeli bombardment, impacting how Palestinians perform their Ramadan rituals. (AFP)

What food can be found in southern Gaza now, under Israel’s tight embargo, is of “very poor quality” and the “choices are extremely limited,” said Attallah.

“There is no animal protein at all and even if we managed to come across it, it would be at skyrocketing prices. For example, one kilo of beef now costs around $70. Before Oct. 7, it cost a maximum of $20.”

When some of her regular clients approached her for advice on ways to stay healthy during Ramadan this year, Attallah said she “could not put together a diet plan comprising the food accessible in southern Gaza.”

She added: “I felt overcome with despair because I couldn’t adapt and properly perform my profession in this situation.

“I myself cannot follow a healthy diet with the food we have. There are very limited options available and this has nothing to do with a person’s income. Whether rich or poor, everyone in Gaza has been impacted by the food and water shortages.”

INNUMBERS

• 32k+ Palestinians killed in Gaza since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7.

• 80% Proportion of Gaza’s 2.3 million-strong population who are displaced.

• 70% Proportion of the population in the north already suffering catastrophic hunger.

UN agencies and other humanitarian organizations accuse Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza, which amounts to a war crime. Israeli authorities reject the accusation, insisting that they allow sufficient amounts food and essentials to enter the enclave.

However, tonnes of desperately needed aid supplies bound for Gaza are stuck at the Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt as Israel continues to limit the flow of trucks entering the territory, in what UN chief Guterres described as a “moral outrage.”

A trickle of aid does manage to reach people in the south of the territory but, Attallah said, “the quality of food and water is horrible. Add to this the difficult living conditions and overcrowding in southern Gaza, and this together has caused malnutrition to soar.

“Aid has been meager and does not cover essential nutrition needs. We don’t need aid just because we’re hungry. We need nutritious food that would sustain our bodies. We need food rich in minerals and vitamins.”




Gazans long accustomed to abundant banquets are enduring famine-like conditions this Ramadan. (Supplied)

Instead, Gazans primarily depend for survival on carbohydrates, such as rice, pasta and potatoes, and canned food, which “lack nutrients,” said Attallah.

“Now, we eat fava beans every day. Literally, we open a can of fava beans for every sahoor because it’s affordable and available. This is distressing.”

For those in northern Gaza who do not have reliable access to even the most basic of foodstuffs, the lack of sufficient nutrition is causing disease and harming the growth and development of children.

“When people see my posts on social media about the harms of the canned food we receive, they say we’re being ungrateful. They tell me to be grateful because aid is reaching us,” said Attallah.

“Yes, we’re grateful, but we need aid that will sustain us, not harm our bodies.”

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Aid groups: Thousands of children in Gaza are malnourished amid Israel’s blockade

Updated 57 min 30 sec ago
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Aid groups: Thousands of children in Gaza are malnourished amid Israel’s blockade

  • Thousands of children are malnourished, and most people are only eating one meal every other day, the UN says
  • Humanitarian aid is the primary food source for 80 percent of the population, the World Food Program said

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: Aid groups are raising new alarm over Israel’s blockade of the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, where no food or other supplies have been allowed in for more than six weeks.
Thousands of children are malnourished, and most people are only eating one meal every other day, the United Nations says.
Israel ended a ceasefire last month and renewed its bombardment, killing hundreds of people and seizing large parts of the territory to pressure Hamas to accept changes to the deal that would speed the release of hostages. Israeli strikes overnight into Thursday killed at least 23 people, including a family of 10.
A strike in the southern city of Khan Younis killed five children, four women and a man from the same family, all of whom suffered severe burns, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies. Strikes in northern Gaza killed 13 people, including nine children, according to the Indonesian Hospital.
The Israeli military says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames their deaths on Hamas because it operates in residential areas. There was no immediate comment on the latest strikes.
Nearly all rely on charity kitchens
The UN humanitarian office, known as OCHA, said that almost all of Gaza’s more than 2 million people now rely on charity kitchens supported by aid groups, which can prepare just 1 million meals a day.
Other food distribution programs have shut down for lack of supplies, and the UN and other aid groups have been sending their remaining stocks to the charity kitchens.
The only other way to get food in Gaza is from markets. But prices are spiraling and shortages are widespread, meaning humanitarian aid is the primary food source for 80 percent of the population, the World Food Program said in its monthly report for April.
“The Gaza Strip is now likely facing the worst humanitarian crisis in the 18 months since the escalation of hostilities in October 2023,” OCHA said.
Most people in Gaza are now down to one meal a day, said Shaina Low, a spokesperson for the Norwegian Refugee Council. “It’s far lower than what is needed,” she said.
Water is also growing scarce, with Palestinians standing in long lines to fill jerry cans from trucks. Omar Shatat, an official with a local water utility, said people are down to six or seven liters per day, well below the amount the UN estimates is needed to meet basic needs.
More hungry children, and they are harder to reach
In March, more than 3,600 children were newly admitted for treatment for acute malnutrition, up from around 2,000 the month before, according to OCHA, which said “the rapid deterioration of the nutrition situation is already visible.”
At the same time, aid groups’ ability to treat malnourished children is hampered by Israel’s airstrikes and ground operations, which resumed on March 18.
In March, the number of children under 5 that aid workers could supply with nutrient supplements fell 70 percent from February, down to 22,300 children – a fraction of the 29,000 children they aim to reach. Only 60 percent of the 173 treatment sites are operating, and demand for the dwindling supplies is rising, OCHA said.
“Humanitarians have been forced to watch people suffer and die while carrying the impossible burden of providing relief with depleted supplies, all while facing the same life-threatening conditions themselves,” said Amande Bazerolle, the emergency coordinator in Gaza for Doctors Without Borders.
“This is not a humanitarian failure — it is a political choice, and a deliberate assault on a people’s ability to survive, carried out with impunity,” she said in a statement.
Israel says the blockade is a pressure tactic
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday that preventing humanitarian aid is one of the “central pressure tactics” used against Hamas, which Israel accuses of siphoning off aid to maintain its rule.
Israel is demanding that Hamas release more hostages at the start of any new ceasefire and ultimately agree to disarm and leave the territory. Katz said that even afterward Israel will continue to occupy large “security zones” inside Gaza.
Hamas is currently holding 59 hostages, 24 of whom are believed to be alive. It says it will only return them in exchange for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a lasting truce, as called for in the now-defunct ceasefire agreement reached earlier this year.
Hani Almadhoun, co-founder of Gaza Soup Kitchen, said his kitchen has food for about three more weeks.
“But food is loosely defined. We have pasta and rice but nothing much beyond that. No fresh produce. There is no chicken or beef. The only thing we have is canned meat,” he said. He said 15-20 percent of the people who come to his kitchen for food leave empty-handed.
The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Most of the hostages have since been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israel has rescued eight and recovered dozens of bodies.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were civilians or combatants. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.
The war has destroyed vast parts of Gaza and most of its food production capabilities. The war has displaced around 90 percent of the population, with hundreds of thousands of people living in tent camps and bombed-out buildings.


France, UK mull migrant swaps in bid to stem Channel crossings

Migrants board a smuggler’s boat in an attempt to cross the English Channel, off the beach of Gravelines, north of France.
Updated 17 April 2025
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France, UK mull migrant swaps in bid to stem Channel crossings

  • France and Britain have pledged to step up the fight against people smugglers who enable the sometimes deadly crossings

PARIS: Paris and London are discussing a trial to deport undocumented migrants from the United Kingdom to France in exchange for allowing others to join family in Britain, France’s interior ministry said Thursday.
The United Kingdom is seeking to crack down on migrants crossing the Channel from France to England on flimsy rubber dinghies in search of a better life.
France and Britain have pledged to step up the fight against people smugglers who enable the sometimes deadly crossings.
Both sides are discussing “a trial,” France’s interior ministry said.
It would be carried out “on a one-for-one basis of a legal entry for family reunification in exchange for (France) readmitting undocumented migrants who managed to cross” the Channel to the United Kingdom.
“Setting up legal routes, as well as re-entries (to France) to discourage migrant smuggling networks, are part of possible solutions,” it added.
Asked for comment, the British Home Office said the United Kingdom, France and other European countries were “exploring fresh and innovative measures to dismantle the business models of the criminal smuggling gangs.”
Last year, more than 36,800 people crossed the Channel, up 25 percent from 2023, according to British figures.
According to French authorities, 78 migrants died in 2024 while trying to reach England aboard small boats, a record since the start of the trend in this area in 2018.
The United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands in December agreed to boost cooperation against irregular migration.


Israeli settlers storm Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem to mark Passover holiday

Updated 17 April 2025
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Israeli settlers storm Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem to mark Passover holiday

  • Settlers entered the site through the Mughrabi Gate in groups and performed Jewish prayers 
  • Israeli forces implemented strict security measures, preventing Palestinians from entering

LONDON: Thousands of Israeli settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Compound in the Old City of East Jerusalem to mark the Jewish holiday of Passover on Thursday.

The Jerusalem Governorate, a body affiliated with the Palestinian Authority, said that Israeli settlers entered the site through the Mughrabi Gate in groups and performed Jewish prayers at the site. Settlers also toured Bab Al-Rahma on the eastern wall of the compound, which was a site of conflict between Israeli police and Muslim worshippers in 2019.

Passover is observed from April 12 to 20, when Jewish communities commemorate the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt more than 3,000 years ago.

Far-right Israeli lawmaker Zvi Sukkot, from the Religious Zionism Party, performed in Al-Aqsa the Talmudic ritual known as “epic prostration,” in which the worshipper bows low to the ground in a display of humility and reverence.

Thousands of Jewish worshippers performed the Priest’s Blessing at the Western Wall, a plaza outside the western wall of Al-Aqsa Mosque, on the fifth day of Passover.

Israeli forces implemented strict security measures, turning the Al-Aqsa area into a military zone and preventing Palestinians from entering, the Wafa news agency reported.

On Tuesday, Israeli authorities closed the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, south of the occupied West Bank, as part of security measures during Passover.

The closure meant Palestinians were barred from accessing the site for two days as Israeli settlers celebrated Passover, Wafa added.


Clashes in Sudan’s El-Fasher kill 57: medical source

Updated 17 April 2025
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Clashes in Sudan’s El-Fasher kill 57: medical source

  • The violence came just days after the RSF killed over 400 people in attacks on El-Fasher
  • The RSF has ramped up its attacks on the Darfur city following the army’s recapture of Khartoum

PORT SUDAN: Clashes between Sudanese paramilitaries and the regular army have killed at least 57 civilians in the besieged Darfur city of El-Fasher, a medical source and a volunteer aid group said Thursday.
The local resistance committee, a volunteer aid group, said the civilians were killed on Wednesday in clashes and shelling of the city by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, at war with the army since April 2023.
The violence came just days after the RSF killed over 400 people in attacks on North Darfur’s capital of El-Fasher and nearby displacement camps, according to the United Nations.
El-Fasher, which the RSF has besieged for nearly a year, is the last major urban stronghold in Darfur still under army control and a strategic target for the paramilitary.
The RSF has ramped up its attacks on the Darfur city following the army’s recapture of the capital Khartoum last month.
The war, which entered its third year on Tuesday, has killed tens of thousands, uprooted 13 million and created what the UN describes as the world’s largest hunger and displacement crises.
It has also fractured the country in two, with the army holding the center, north and east while the RSF controls nearly all of Darfur and, along with its allies, parts of the south.


Mediator Qatar says Israel ‘did not abide’ by Gaza truce deal

Updated 17 April 2025
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Mediator Qatar says Israel ‘did not abide’ by Gaza truce deal

  • Israel had converted 30 percent of the Gaza Strip into a buffer zone in the widening air and ground offensive

MOSCOW: Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani said Thursday that Israel had failed to respect January’s ceasefire agreement in Gaza, as he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
“As you know, we reached an agreement months ago, but unfortunately Israel did not abide by this agreement,” said the ruler of Qatar, a key mediator of the deal.
A truce in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, brokered by Qatar with Egypt and the United States, came into force on January 19, largely halting more than 15 months of fighting triggered by Palestinian militants’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
The inital phase of the truce ended in early March, with the two sides unable to agree on the next steps. Israel resumed air and ground attacks across the Gaza Strip on March 18 after earlier halting the entry of aid.
Israel said Wednesday that it had converted 30 percent of Gaza into a buffer zone in the widening offensive.
Sheikh Tamim said Qatar would “strive to bridge perspectives in order to reach an agreement that ends the suffering of the Palestinian people, especially in Gaza.”
Putin recognized Qatar’s “serious efforts to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict” and called deaths in the conflict “a tragedy.”
“A long-term settlement can only be achieved on the basis of the UN resolution and first of all connected to the establishment of two states,” he added.
Israel’s renewed assault has so far killed at least 1,691 people in Gaza, the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory reported, bringing the overall toll since the war erupted to 51,065, most of them civilians.
Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, also mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.