War steals Ramadan joy
International mediators hope for truce but still no breakthrough. GAZANS STARVING AND MUSLIM WORLD FEELS THEIR PAIN
For Muslims worldwide, Ramadan is a time of prayer, reflection and joyful evening meals, but all Gazans wish for this year is an end to five months of war and suffering.
It is a hope shared widely across the Islamic world, where the thoughts of many are with Gaza ahead of the fasting month which starts with the sighting of the crescent moon on Sunday or Monday.
The war has devastated Gaza, killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and triggered violence elsewhere in the Middle East, from Lebanon to the seas off Yemen.
Amid the ruins of southern Gaza, Nevin al-Siksek sat outside her makeshift tent, distracting her young daughter from the carnage around them with a plastic Ramadan lantern.
The colourful famous lanterns are an iconic symbol of Ramadan. Across Gaza this year, the lights are among the few signs signalling the coming holy month, amid dire warnings of mass starvation.
While international mediators were hoping for a truce in time for Ramadan, no breakthrough had come by yesterday. Much of the territory of 2.4 million people has become a hellscape of bombedout neighbourhoods, emaciated children and mass graves.
Siksek and her family will break their fast in the bare-bones tent they share with other displaced civilians. If they can find anything to eat, that is. “We do not have any food to prepare,” Siksek said as her husband, Mohammed Yasser Rayhan, nodded in agreement.
In the past during Ramadan, which commemorates the beginning of the Koranic revelation to the Prophet Mohammed in the seventh century, “there was life, joy, spirit, decorations and a beautiful atmosphere”, Rayhan said. “Now Ramadan is coming and we have war, oppression and famine.”
The Gaza war erupted after Hamas staged an unprecedented attack on southern Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1 160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 30 800 people so far, according to Hamas-run Gaza's health ministry. In other parts of the Islamic world many Muslims say their thoughts are with Palestinians this year. “Every time I pray, I always send a prayer for our brothers and sisters in the Palestinian territory,” said an Indonesian, Nurunnisa, 61. “The people there are suffering so much.”
The reports of looming famine in Gaza, where residents have taken to eating slaughtered horses and even leaves, also weigh heavily on Jordanian Saif Hindawi in Amman. In Gaza, he said, “they have used animal fodder to make bread”.
The war has had a severe impact on southern Lebanon, where Iran-backed Hezbollah militants have exchanged near-daily strikes with Israel and tens of thousands have been displaced on both sides of the border.
In Yemen, Iran-backed Huthi rebels began firing missiles at vessels linked to Israel in November. In the port city of Hodeida, an area targeted by anti-Huthi US strikes, restaurant manager Ali Mohammad said: “When the air strikes began, business collapsed. If it continues our only option will be to close,” he said.