Palestinians ready for Ramadan in shadow of war
RAFAH, Gaza (Reuters) – Palestinians prepared for Ramadan in a somber mood with heightened security measures by police and the specter of war and hunger in Gaza overshadowing the normally festive Muslim holy month as talks to secure a ceasefire stalled.
Thousands of police have been deployed around the narrow streets of the Old City in Jerusalem, where tens of thousands of worshipers are expected every day at al-Aqsa Mosque compound, one of the holiest sites in Islam.
The area considered the most sacred place by Jews, known as the Temple Mount, has been a longstanding flashpoint for trouble and was one of the starting points of the last war in 2021 between Israel and Hamas.
That 10-day conflict has been dwarfed by the current war, which is now in its sixth month.
The campaign in Gaza has drawn increasing alarm across the world, as the growing risk of famine threatens to add to a death toll that
has already passed 31,000, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
After some confusion last month when far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir (Otzma Yehudit) said he wanted restrictions on worshipers at al-Aqsa, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the numbers admitted would be similar to last year.
“This is our mosque, and we must take care of it,” said Azzam Al-Khatib, director-general of the Jerusalem Waqf, the religious foundation that oversees al-Aqsa. “We must protect the presence of Muslims at this mosque, who should be able to enter in big numbers peacefully and safely.”
Following lunar observations, Ramadan began on Monday night.
But in contrast to previous years, the usual decorations around the Old City have not been put up, and there was a similar somber tone in towns across the West Bank, where around 400 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war.
“We decided this year that the Old City of Jerusalem
won’t be decorated out of respect for the blood of our children and the elders and the martyrs,” said Ammar Sider, a community leader in the Old City.
Police said they were working to ensure a peaceful Ramadan and had taken extra measures to crack down on what they described as provocative and distorted information on social-media networks, adding that they had arrested 20 people suspected of incitement to terrorism.
“Israel Police will continue to act and allow for the observance of Ramadan prayers safely on the Temple Mount while maintaining security and safety in the area,” the police said in a statement.
Last month, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh called on Palestinians to march to the mosque at the start of Ramadan.
Last year, clashes that erupted when police entered the mosque compound drew condemnation from the Arab League as well as Saudi Arabia, with which Israel had been seeking to normalize diplomatic ties, extending its push to build ties with regional powers, including
the United Arab Emirates.
Ceasefire hopes
Hopes for a ceasefire, which would have allowed Ramadan to pass peacefully and enabled the return of at least some of the 134 Israeli hostages held in Gaza appear to have been disappointed, with talks in Cairo stalled.
In the ruins of Gaza itself, where half of the 2.3 million Gazans are squeezed into the southern city of Rafah, many living under plastic tents and facing a severe shortage of food, the mood was correspondingly somber.
“We made no preparations to welcome Ramadan because we have been fasting for five months now,” said Maha, a mother of five, who would normally have filled her home with decorations and stocked her refrigerator with supplies for the evening Iftar celebrations when people break their fast.
“There is no food,” she said via chat app from Rafah, where she is sheltering with her family. “We only have some canned food and rice. Most of the food items are being sold for imaginary high prices.”