Desperation in Gaza as Ramadan begins

Desperation in Gaza as Ramadan begins
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full screen A Palestinian boy plays with fireworks to celebrate the start of Ramadan. Photo: Fatima Shbair/AP/TT

Ramadan is here – but with no truce in sight. For millions of Palestinians in besieged Gaza, the failed peace talks mean a month of fasting in total misery.

The situation in Jerusalem is “extremely tense” since believing Muslims were stopped at the Temple Mount.

On the beach in Gaza, Mohammed Harara is waiting. Since Sunday morning, he has been standing there looking out over the sea hoping to see a ship appear on the horizon.

Barely 40 miles away, the Open Arms charity’s ship is stuck in the port of Larnaca, Cyprus. 200 tonnes of food for Gaza’s needy has been delayed due to technical problems.

With the start of Ramadan, it is clear that the mediators have failed in their goal, which was a truce in effect before the start of the fasting month. During the night and morning, Palestinian civilians have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza City and in Rafah, media reports.

Need vegetables

As the fasting month now begins, desperation is growing in the besieged Gaza – but many Palestinians have de facto already been fasting for months. The situation is worst in the northern Gaza Strip, which has been almost completely cut off from the outside world by Israeli forces. In southern Gaza, where aid deliveries are still limited, the few canned goods available are sold at sky-high prices.

– We need vegetables and fruit to give to our children. They are getting weaker and weaker and will die of hunger, Sufian al-Yazji told Al Jazeera in Rafah.

During Ramadan, millions of Muslims worldwide abstain from food and water from sunrise to sunset. In most of the Middle East, it officially begins on Monday, after Saudi Arabia’s King Salman announced that the new moon had been sighted.

Was prevented from praying

The situation in Jerusalem is described as extremely tense. On Sunday evening, Israeli forces prevented hundreds of Muslims from entering al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. Only women over the age of 40 were allowed in to pray in connection with the start of Ramadan.

Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised that anyone who wanted to visit al-Aqsa during Ramadan would be allowed to do so.

The Temple Mount, or al-Haram al-Sharif, has been at the center of the battle for Jerusalem for centuries. There are sanctuaries in Judaism, Islam and Christianity. Since 1967, the Temple Mount has been under Israeli control.

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