While Muslims around the world celebrated the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha with feasting and gifts on Sunday, displaced Palestinians in the Gaza Strip struggled to feed their families.
No break in violence as Gaza marks Eid al-Adha
Palestinians displaced by the Israeli air and ground offensive on the Gaza Strip offer Eid al-Adha prayers at a makeshift tent camp Khan Younis, Gaza, Sunday, June 16, 2024
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Jehad Alshrafi/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved.
Several displaced women in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, spoke with the Associated Press about how Eid drastically changed for them compared to last year due to Israel's devastating war.
“There are no new clothes, no Eid meat, or even Eid sweets, and you can't give your son a toy to make him happy like before," said Nadia Al-Debis, a displaced mother from Gaza City.
Her sister, Aya Al-Debis, said Eid would be marked by the absence of loved ones.
"We are suffering from missing our family, my husband. And the children are missing their father."
Her family can’t even afford to buy the basic necessities like healthy food for her children, she added.
“We... fled from the hunger that was in the north. We were forced, because the children could not bear it,” she added.
Meanwhile, Um Fadi Shonnar, who was displaced from Beit Lahia in north Gaza, told the AP the war must end for the sake of their children.
“Our homes are gone, and we are psychologically and financially destroyed,” she told AP as she sat with her children inside a tent.
“We live in tents. The epidemic, poverty and hunger have wiped us out. We, as adults, are tired, so what about the children?” she asked.
Earlier on Sunday, Israel's military announced on that it would pause fighting during daytime hours along a route in southern Gaza to free up a backlog of humanitarian aid deliveries.
The military said that the pause, which begins on the first day of Eid Al-Adha holiday, came after discussions with the United Nations and other aid agencies.