As the battle continued, Gazans tried their best to enjoy the conclusion of Ramadan in the pouring rain on Wednesday. According to the health ministry of the Hamas-run region, 14 people were killed in a strike on their home, including children.
On the first day of the Eid al-Fitr festival, the Israeli military claimed to have struck multiple targets. According to them, a plane destroyed a rocket launch facility, and troops killed a “terrorist cell” in close quarters combat.
The aftermath of the bombardment of the house in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza was observed by an AFP photographer. In the neighboring Deir el-Balah, at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, family members held the bodies of deceased youngsters.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army.
Israel said 468 aid trucks — a record since the war began — were allowed into Gaza on the eve of the holiday which marks the end of the Muslim fasting month and is traditionally celebrated with family gatherings.
But for the 2.4 million people living in Gaza up to 1.5 million of whom are jammed into camps surrounding the far-southern city of Rafah there wasn’t much to eat, as the UN warned that the besieged region is on the verge of famine.
Devotee Khairi Abu Singer bemoaned that Israel’s ceaseless bombardment had even “deprived Palestinians from praying inside their mosques” as the devout gathered outside the city’s demolished Al-Farooq Mosque at dawn.
father of four children At what ought to be a happy occasion, Ahmed Qishta, 33, told AFP there wasn’t much to rejoice over.
“We prepared sweets and biscuits from the aid we got from the UN and now we are giving it to the children. We try to be happy but it is difficult.”
He claimed that before heading to the Ibn Taymiyyah mosque for Eid prayers, they went to pray at the graves of family members who had died in the conflict.
He declared that “such an Eid — all sadness, fear, destruction and a grinding war” had never been experienced before.
Abir Sakik, 40, stated she was without “ingredients for the cakes and sweets” she would typically make. She and her family abandoned their home in Gaza City and are currently residing in a tent in Rafah. Rather, she used crushed dates to make cakes. “We want to rejoice despite all the blood, death and shelling,” she stated to AFP.
