What Ramadan has been like this year in Gaza, from ceasefire to war

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — It is 2 a.m. and three young men walk through the rubble of a neighborhood destroyed by Israeli airstrikes, beating a drum and singing Muslim chants.

They’re loud, and that’s the point. They are waking people up, reminding them to eat before another day of fasting begins at dawn, during the holy month of Ramadan.

This year, those observing Ramadan in Gaza are also following the sounds of Israeli airstrikes, warplanes and drones.

In the second week of Ramadan, in early March, Israel broke a brief ceasefire and resumed war in Gaza. The Israeli government said it was to pressure Hamas to release Israeli hostages.

Recent Israeli airstrikes have killed nearly 1,000 people, including hundreds of children, according to Gaza health officials. Palestinians have evacuated their neighborhoods by order of the Israeli military.

Hope that the war might end has been shattered, as Ramadan comes to a close this weekend.

“This is psychological warfare,” says Issam Zakkout, who does not know whether to flee his home or stay.

Food supplies are scarce because of an Israeli blockade

This Ramadan, people in Gaza are struggling to find food.

Israel allowed humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza during the brief ceasefire in January and February. But for the past month, it has imposed a blockade on Gaza, barring the entry of all aid, even food.

Israel says it’s to pressure Hamas. Rights groups say it’s collective punishment to civilians.

Aid groups are now rationing supplies. The United Nations is pulling some of its staff out of Gaza.

At one community kitchen, hungry and tired people wait in a long line for a meal of beans to break their Ramadan fast.

Before the war, Fouad Nassar would break his fast with chicken, fish and kebabs.

“Every day we had proper meals. We didn’t need anyone’s help. Now, why am I standing two hours in line for a plate from the charity kitchen?” Nassar said.

Making pizza inside a gutted microwave

Atop piles of concrete debris of her destroyed apartment building, Rana al-Abadi cooks for iftar, the meal that breaks the fast during Ramadan.

Before the war, Palestinian dishes of spiced chicken, rice and vegetables were served every night of Ramadan. Now she makes pizza with canned mushrooms, canned corn, canned sauce and canned cheese.

She removed a microwave’s insides, and turned it into an oven, lighting a fire using foam from bed mattresses her husband collected from under rubble around their neighborhood.

Burnt foam sticks to the dough of the pizza her children will eat. She has no other choice.

“Before, Ramadan was full of variety, colors and flavors. Now, we barely have anything,” she says.

One week of celebration was dashed by the return to war

At the beginning of the holy month, some families gathered outdoors for free Ramadan meals, organized by an Egyptian charity.

Now, daily Israeli airstrikes make it too dangerous to gather that way. In war, there is nothing to celebrate.

But for just one week this Ramadan, families were able to gather, after months of displacement, at long tables, among mounds of smashed concrete and strings of battery-powered lights.

Families that had lost so much in the war could enjoy relaxed quality time together, like a family reunion, eating a Ramadan meal without war.