Ramadhan brings no relief as war rages in Gaza

Gaza’s deadliest war showed no signs of abating as the Muslim holy month of Ramadhan began on March 11.

As the Muslim world welcomed Ramadhan with the customary daytime fast, many Gazans awoke to bombardment that saw residents once more search through the rubble of destroyed homes for survivors and bodies.

“The start of Ramadhan has been sad and covered in darkness, with the taste and stench of blood everywhere,” said one displaced Palestinian man, Awni al-Kayyal, 50.

“The (Israeli) occupation does not want us to have any joy during Ramadhan. We do not have any food for our iftar table,” he said, referring to the fast-breaking evening meal. 

The Islamic holy month this year is “all pain”, said Ahmed Kamis, 40, in Gaza’s far-southern city of Rafah, where around 1.5 million people have tried to find refuge but are still at risk from Israeli bombing.

But even as many Palestinians did not know where to find their next meal, others still found ways to celebrate the start of the holy month, fashioning meagre decorations and distributing traditional fanous lanterns between their tents.

A Cyprus government spokesman said a Spanish charity ship with food aid was set to sail from the island within hours to the coastal Gaza Strip, where the UN has repeatedly warned of famine.

The non-governmental group Open Arms said its boat would tow a barge with 200 tonnes of food, which its partner the US charity World Central Kitchen would later unload on Gaza’s shores.

Fighting meanwhile raged on across Gaza, with the Israeli military reporting that troops killed 15 militants “in close encounters, sniper file and air strikes”.

It added that “several Hamas operatives were arrested” during raids on homes in southern Gaza, while witnesses reported violent clashes in several areas through the night.

Gaza’s health ministry said at least 67 people were killed over the past 24 hours. 

The Hamas government media office said separately that more than 40 air strikes targeted homes in Khan Yunis, Gaza City and other areas.

In Saudi Arabia, King Salman called in his Ramadan message for the international community to “uphold its responsibilities to put an end to these heinous crimes” in Gaza.

UN chief Antonio Guterres expressed his “solidarity and support to all those suffering from the horrors in Gaza. In these trying times, the spirit of Ramadan is a beacon of hope, a reminder of our shared humanity.”

Multiple countries airdropped aid into northern Gaza on Sunday, but the United Nations’ aid coordinator for the area has said boosting supply by land would be far more effective.

Some of the food packages smashed open on impact, leaving residents picking through the dirt to salvage what they could, AFPTV images showed.

Background
The war started by the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel has killed 31,112 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza.

Weeks of talks involving US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators failed to bring about a truce and hostage exchange deal ahead of the intended target of the start of Ramadan.  Both sides have blamed each other for failing to reach a deal.