DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Last summer, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip celebrated the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha the way it should be: with big family feasts, meat shared with those less fortunate, and new clothes and gifts for the children.
But this year, after eight months of devastation war between Israel and Hamas, many families will eat canned food in sweltering tents. There is almost no meat or livestock in the local markets, and there is no money for gifts or Christmas presents – only war, hunger and misery, no end in sight.
“There is no Eid this year,” said Nadia Hamouda, whose daughter was killed in the war and who fled her home in northern Gaza months ago and is staying in a tent in the central city of Deir al-Balah. we hear the call to prayer, we cry for those we have lost and the things we have lost, and for what happened to us, and how we lived before.”
Muslims around the world will celebrate the four-day Eid al-Adha, the Feast of Sacrifice, at the start of the week. It commemorates Prophet Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son, Ismail, as narrated in the Quran. In Jewish and Christian traditions, Abraham is called to sacrifice his other son, Isaac.
Gaza was impoverished and isolated even before the warbut people still managed to celebrate by hanging colorful decorations, surprising children with treats and gifts, and buying meat or slaughtering livestock to share with those less fortunate.
“It was a real Eid,” Hamouda said. “Everyone was happy, including the children.”
Now much of Gaza is in ruins and most of the 2.3 million Palestinian population have fled their homes. After Hamas surprise attack on Israel on October 7, during which Palestinian militants killed around 1,200 people and took another 250 hostage, Israel launched a massive air and ground attack.
The war killed more than 37,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health. It has destroyed most of Gaza’s agriculture and food production, leaving people dependent on humanitarian aid that has been slowed by Israeli restrictions and ongoing fighting.
United Nations agencies have warned that more than a million people — almost half the population — could experience the highest level of hunger in the coming weeks.
In early May, Egypt closed its passage to the city of Rafah, in southern Gaza, after Israel captured the Palestinian side, sealing the only route for people to enter or leave the territory. This means that virtually no Palestinian in Gaza will be able to do the annual Hajj pilgrimage that precedes Eid.
Ashraf Sahwiel, who was among the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled Gaza City at the start of the war and who also lives in a tent, has no idea when or if he will be able to return.
“We don’t even know what happened to our houses or if we will be able to live in them again, or if it will even be possible to rebuild them,” he said.
Abdelsattar al-Batsh said he and his family of seven have not eaten meat since the start of the war. A kilogram (2 pounds) of meat costs 200 shekels (about US$50). A live sheep, which before the war could be purchased for just $200, now costs $1,300 – if it is available at all.
“Today there is only war. Without money. Jobless. Our homes were destroyed. I have nothing,” said al-Batsh.
Iyad al-Bayouk, owner of a currently closed cattle farm in southern Gaza, said severe shortages of cattle and feed due to Israel’s blockade have driven up prices. Some local farms have been turned into shelters.
Mohammed Abdel Rahim, who has been sheltering in a building on an empty livestock farm in central Gaza for months, said the farm-turned-shelter was particularly bad in winter, when it smelled of animals and was infested with insects. As the heat increased, the ground dried out, making it more bearable, he said.
Abdelkarim Motawq, another Palestinian displaced from northern Gaza, used to work in the local meat industry, which did brisk business before the holiday. This year, his family can only buy rice and beans.
“I wish I could work again,” he said. “It was a busy time for me, during which I took money home and bought food, clothes, nuts and meat for my children. But today there was nothing left.”
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Khaled reported from Cairo.
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