NEW: Eid Celebrations in Gaza Bring Relief and Joy, but Lingering Pain of War Remains [Video]
Displaced Palestinians inside the besieged Gaza Strip welcomed this year’s Eid al-Fitr celebration, while continuing to grapple with the hardships created by the Israeli genocide.
Kneeling for prayer among the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israel, Palestinian families in Gaza City shared in an atmosphere of much-needed relief complicated by ongoing struggle and mourning.
NEW: Eid Among the Rubble in Gaza
In the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City, families gathered on March 21 to pray during the first of two Eid observances, Eid al-Fitr.
At an Eid al-Fitr prayer and celebration event led by the Al-Khair Foundation, families in Gaza City rekindled some hope. Children gathered together as clowns and performers entertained the young crowd, while relatives and community members looked on with relief.
Amid the rubble in Gaza City, this year’s Eid observance was a welcome departure from last year’s, which took place under heavier Israeli bombardments and a total blockade on aid entering Gaza, leading to widespread hunger.
“We, the displaced, scattered, homeless in these devastated and desolate places which emerged after war and widespread destruction, have come here to celebrate with the Eid prayer to revive what little hope and longing remains within us,” Abu Ali al-Dahdouh told UR.
While this year’s Eid celebration was a welcome departure from those of the recent past in Gaza, for many like Fatima Sheikha, it stirs difficult memories of loved ones killed in the Israeli assault on the territory who are no longer present to join in the tradition.
Her brother, for one, was a fixture in her Eid celebrations before his death.
“He used to come to me in the evening and morning. He was martyred shortly before the end of the war in August,” Sheikha said.
In February, we reported from a community breakfast celebrating the first day of Ramadan where hundreds of displaced Palestinians gathered at Abu Hussein School in Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza Strip to celebrate together.
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