‘No joy’: Gazans mark sombre Eid in shadow of war
- Eid has become a day of misery for many Gazans, who are forced to spend the holiday without their loved ones killed or displaced during the war
In tents in the stifling heat and in bombed-out mosques, Gazans marked Sunday the start of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, devoid of the usual cheer as the war between Israel and Hamas raged on.
“There is no joy. We have been robbed of it,” said Malakiya Salman, a 57-year-old displaced woman, now living in a tent in Khan Yunis city in the southern Gaza Strip.
Gazans, like Muslims the world over, would usually slaughter sheep for the holiday – whose Arabic name means “feast of the sacrifice” – and share the meat with the needy.
Parents would also gift children new clothes and money in celebration.
But this year, after more than eight months of a devastating Israeli campaign that has flattened much of Gaza, displaced most of the besieged territory’s 2.4 million people and sparked repeated warnings of famine, the Eid is a day of misery for many.
“I hope the world will put pressure to end the war on us, because we are truly dying, and our children are broken,” Salman said.