AP – Before the war, the holy month of Ramadhan was a festive time of increased worship, social gatherings and cheer for Fatima Al-Absi.
Together with her husband, the resident of Jabaliya in Gaza said she used to do Ramadhan shopping, visit relatives and head to the mosque for prayers.
But the Israel-Hamas war shredded many of the familiar and cherished threads of Ramadhan as Al-Absi once knew it: her husband and a son-in-law have been killed, her home was damaged and burnt and the mosque she attended during Ramadhan destroyed, she said.
“Everything has changed,” she said as her family observed the first day of Ramadhan. “There’s no husband, no home, no proper food and no proper life.”
For Al-Absi and other Gaza residents, Ramadhan started this year under a fragile ceasefire agreement that paused more than 15 months of a war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and devastated the Gaza Strip. Compared to last Ramadhan, many found relief in the truce – but there’s also worry and fear about what’s next and grief over the personal and collective losses, the raw wounds and the numerous scars left behind.
“I’ve lost a lot,” said the 57-year-old grandmother, who’s been reduced to eking out an existence amid the wreckage.
“Life is difficult. May Allah the Almighty grant us patience and strength,” she added.
Israel cut off all aid and other supplies to Gaza on Sunday to pressure Hamas to accept a new proposal to extend the first phase of the ceasefire. Hamas accused Israel of trying to derail the existing ceasefire agreement, but both sides stopped short of declaring the truce over.
“We’re scared because there’s no stability,” Al-Absi said and added that she’s praying for the war to end and that she can’t bear any more losses. She spoke before Israel announced the new proposal and the aid cutoff on Sunday.
Though Ramadhan is still far from normal, some in the Gaza Strip said that, in some ways, it feels better than last year’s. “We can’t predict what will happen next,” Amal Abu Sariyah, in Gaza City, said before the month’s start. “Yes, the country is destroyed and the situation is very bad, but the feeling that the shelling and the killing… have stopped, makes you (feel) that this year is better than the last one.”
Overshadowed by war and displacement, last Ramadhan was “very bad” for the Palestinian people, she said.
The 2024 Ramadhan in Gaza began with cease-fire talks then at a standstill, hunger worsening across the strip and no end in sight to the war.
The war was sparked by the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. Israel’s military offensive has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians. Vast areas of Gaza have been destroyed.
Under the ceasefire, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians flooded back into northern Gaza. After initial relief and joy at returning to their homes – even if damaged or destroyed – they’ve been grappling with living amid the wreckage.
