PNN – This year’s holy month of Ramadan is a month of hunger, thirst, and destruction for the people of the Gaza Strip. While Muslims around the world spend the days of this holy month fasting and the nights praying, the residents of this region are struggling with famine, siege, and lack of basic amenities in addition to the hardships of fasting.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network, the Gaza Strip has been turned into a devastated area since the start of the brutal Israeli attacks in October 2023. The regime has almost completely stopped the entry of food, medicine, and fuel through a comprehensive blockade.
In this regard, humanitarian organizations have repeatedly warned that widespread famine in the Gaza Strip threatens the lives of thousands of children and women. Images and reports published during the more than year-long war against the region showed people taking refuge in leaves and animal feed in search of food, and many children have died due to severe malnutrition.
However, on the eve of the holy month of Ramadan, there were hopes for facilitating the entry of humanitarian aid, but the occupying regime not only did not allow sufficient food to enter, but also closed the routes for the transfer of this aid and then resumed the war against the region.
In the shadow of these actions and aggression, many Palestinian families who lost their homes and shelters as a result of airstrikes are now living on the streets, in schools, or in temporary tents, without having food for iftar or suhoor.
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Deliberately preventing the entry of humanitarian aid
As the holy month of Ramadan began, international organizations attempted to send more food and medical aid to Gaza, but the Israeli regime did not allow aid convoys to enter and blocked the main routes for transporting this aid.
Published images show trucks carrying flour, rice, drinking water, and medicine stopped at crossings into Gaza, with many of these items spoiled due to deliberate delays.
In recent days, reports have emerged that even the limited aid that has entered Gaza has been attacked by Israeli forces on its way to distribution, and some of it has not reached the people. Some aid workers have said that Israeli forces have in some cases confiscated aid and even shot at trucks carrying food.
These measures are taking place while the United Nations and human rights organizations have repeatedly warned that the conditions in Gaza are on the verge of disaster and that if humanitarian aid is not delivered quickly, thousands of people are likely to die from hunger and diseases caused by malnutrition.
Breaking the fast on the ruins of houses
Ramadan, traditionally a month of gatherings for families to break their fast and break their fast, has a different feel in Gaza. For many Palestinians, there is no longer a home in which to break their fast. Many families spread their small, empty tables on the ruins of their homes, destroyed in recent bombings. Images released from Gaza show children breaking their fast amidst the rubble with a piece of dry bread or a few dates.
In some places, Palestinian men and women break their fast amidst the ruins of mosques and schools, in the absence of loved ones who have lost their lives in recent attacks. Gaza’s dawns are nothing but darkness, hunger and fear. Families with only a few plastic containers of water and a small amount of food are living through the difficult days of Ramadan, hoping to receive limited aid.
A Gaza resident said in an interview: Every year we start Ramadan with prayer and joy, but this year we break our fast while our homes are destroyed, we have lost our loved ones, and we don’t even have food for our children.
The steadfastness and resistance of the people of Gaza during the holy month of Ramadan
Despite all these hardships, the people of Gaza have remained steadfast. Every night, the call to prayer and supplication can be heard amidst the ruins, and the Palestinians have maintained their spirit of resistance with minimal resources. Many of them, despite hunger and the difficult conditions, offer congregational prayers in the destroyed mosques and keep their hearts warm with patience and perseverance by reading the Quran.
Palestinian mothers prepare iftar for their children with minimal resources and endure the hardships of life with a smile. Despite malnutrition and physical weakness, the youth of Gaza remain together and strive for the survival of themselves and their families.
Children are seen playing in the destroyed streets, still hopeful for the future and looking forward to better days.
One Gazan said in an interview: We believe that these hardships are temporary and that Ramadan is the month of patience and perseverance. We will not bow down to this oppression. Just as our predecessors stood firm against the occupiers, we will also stand firm.
The international community’s reaction: condemnation without practical action
As the humanitarian crisis in Gaza escalates, especially during the holy month of Ramadan, many countries and international organizations have called the Zionist regime a clear violator of human rights, but so far no effective practical action has been taken to stop these crimes.
The UN Security Council has held meetings on the situation in Gaza many times, but proposed resolutions to establish a ceasefire have not been successful due to the US’s support for the Zionist regime.
Meanwhile, people in many Islamic and Western countries have held widespread demonstrations to protest the crimes of the Zionist regime and have called for the lifting of the blockade of Gaza and the immediate sending of humanitarian aid, but their governments have not taken effective action in this regard.
The harsh reality is that unless the international community takes urgent action, the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza will grow larger every day. For the people of this land, Ramadan this year is not only a month of fasting and worship, but also a month of pain, famine, and the struggle for survival.