Gaza gathers at ruins of mosques to rejoice Ramadan | EUROtoday

The Muslim fasting month of Ramadan has begun in Gaza, with Palestinians observing the holy interval amidst the shattered remnants of their communities and locations of worship.

Many have resorted to makeshift prayer areas of tarpaulins and wooden, or the ruins of mosques, mourning their lifeless and misplaced sanctuaries.

In Gaza City, the dome of the now-destroyed Al Hassaina mosque rests on a pile of rubble. Its former courtyard, as soon as a gathering place, now sees households sleeping and cooking among the many particles, criss-crossed with washing traces.

“I can’t bear to look at it,” mentioned Sami Al Hissi, 61, a volunteer on the mosque, standing on rubble the place worshippers as soon as stood shoulder to shoulder in prayer.

“We used to pray comfortably. We used to see our friends, our loved ones. Now there are no loved ones, no friends, and no mosque,” he added.

Children clamber over the cracked domes and girls accumulate laundry hung between damaged columns. Al Hissi famous the mosque had drawn worshippers from different neighbourhoods, together with Shejaia and Daraj, throughout Ramadan.

“It would be filled with thousands,” he mentioned. “But now, where are they supposed to pray? It’s all rubble and destruction. There’s barely enough space for a hundred people.”

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Israel launched its air and floor conflict in Gaza after a Hamas-led cross-border assault on 7 October, 2023 that killed 1,200 individuals, in accordance with Israeli tallies. Israel’s assault has killed 72,000 Palestinians, well being authorities say.

The Hamas-run Gaza authorities media workplace says Israeli forces have utterly destroyed 835 mosques and partially broken 180. It added Israel has focused church buildings in assaults on a number of events, and destroyed 40 of Gaza’s 60 cemeteries.

Israel says it targets militant infrastructure and accuses Palestinian armed teams of working in civilian areas, together with mosques, an allegation Hamas denies.

For many residents, the loss is each religious and communal.

“We wished we could welcome Ramadan in a different atmosphere,” mentioned Khitam Jabr, displaced and now staying on the mosque.

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“We don’t have enough mosques. All of the mosques were destroyed and there’s nowhere to pray. Now we pray in tents, and the mosques became centres for the displaced,” she added.

Despite the devastation and extreme shortages of supplies, persons are making an attempt to rebuild small sections of mosques and arrange makeshift prayer areas utilizing reused plastic sheeting and wooden, mentioned Amir Abu Al-Amrain, director of the non secular affairs ministry in Gaza City.

“Four hundred and thirty prayer areas have been rebuilt, some using plastic sheets from greenhouses, some made of wood, and some constructed with plastic sheets from tents,” he mentioned.