JERUSALEM: The holy month of Ramadan arrived on Monday like others for Palestinians in war-ravaged Gaza: haunted by disease and famine, shivering in tents and threatened by bombs more than five months into fighting between Israel and Hamas fighters.
As the Muslim world welcomes the holy month, many people in Gaza Strip faced shelling and residents and again searched for survivors and bodies under the rubble of destroyed homes.
A UN report quoted the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza and said 25 people have now died from malnutrition and dehydration, most of them children. The UN said the alarming shortage of food, water and health services is worsening the crisis at an unprecedented speed.
Gazans are feeling the shortages even more during Ramadan as they don’t know what to eat to break the fast. Goods that are available are sold at excessive rates, residents lament.
Clashes continue across Gaza, despite UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calling for silence of guns during the holy month and saying he was horrified and outraged by the continuing conflict. Guterres also called for the removal of all obstacles to support childbirth.
Foreign governments have opted to airdrops and are now trying to operate a maritime aid corridor as aid entering Gaza by truck drops far below pre-war levels and Gazans are increasingly desperate.
Israel’s heavy screenings are a major reason for high shortages, according to aid workers.
Israel, however, sees issues on the Palestinian side. They say the “ability of humanitarian organisations within the Gaza Strip to absorb the aid” dictates how much of it is let in.
The Israeli army said that its forces had killed 15 militants in close combat, sniper fire and airstrikes a day earlier, and witnesses reported violent clashes in several areas.
Hamas officials reported more than 40 airstrikes across the region since Sunday, killing at least 67.
According to the Gaza health ministry, shelling and retaliatory ground attacks by the Zionist regime killed 31,112 Palestinians, most of whom were women and children.
The United States and other countries again airlifted aid into northern Gaza on Monday, but outgoing Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said aid could be sent more effectively through five land borders.
Humanitarian aid workers have expressed similar views.
Weeks of negotiations brokered by the United States, Qatar and Egypt failed to produce a ceasefire and a hostage exchange agreement before Ramadan.
While many Palestinians didn’t know where to find their next meal, others decided to start the holy month with small decorations or spreading traditional lanterns between tents.
In Rafah, dozens of Gazans prayed on the first day of the holy month of Ramadan in the ruins of a mosque that was the target of an Israeli airstrike a few days ago.
Tens of thousands of worshipers come to Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem every Ramadan. This mosque is the third holiest place in Islam and the holiest place for Jews.
This area has been the focus of tension in the past and has been in the spotlight once again.
In Washington, President Joe Biden said he faces domestic criticism for his staunch support for Israel in an election year, calling this year’s Ramadan a moment of immense pain.
The United States provides billions of dollars in military aid to Israel, but the Biden administration has downplayed activists’ calls for cuts.
