In a heart-wrenching scene that reflects the suffering of the Palestinian people under occupation, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip gathered on Sunday to perform the Eid Al-Adha prayers amid the rubble of mosques and homes destroyed by the ongoing Israeli war on the strip for the past 9 months.
Since October 7th of last year, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza with full American support, leaving over 122,000 Palestinian casualties, including dead and injured, most of them women and children. This aggression has plunged Israel into international isolation and led to its prosecution before the International Court of Justice.
Anadolu Agency’s correspondent, quoting eyewitnesses, reported that hundreds of thousands performed the Eid prayers amidst the sounds of takbirs (Allah is the greatest) and exchanged Eid greetings, despite the war and suffering they have endured over the past months. However, the usual scenes of distributing sweets and gifts to children in front of mosques and public squares were absent this year, unlike previous Eids.
The elderly Palestinian, Nizam Al-Najjar, 70, said: “Every Eid, we used to slaughter sacrificial animals and pray in public squares, but this Eid’s atmosphere is absent due to the war. Today, only a few people have sacrificial animals because of the siege, the prevention of their entry, and the ongoing war on the Strip.”
For her part, the Palestinian woman, Zarifa Ashour, 55, said: “Our homes were destroyed by the war, and we perform the Eid Al-Adha prayer in front of them despite their destruction. There is no Eid in the Gaza Strip because of the killing and devastation that has befallen it. We tell the world that we are victorious despite the pain and wounds.”
Israel continues its war on Gaza, despite decisions by the UN Security Council to halt it immediately and orders from the International Court of Justice to end the invasion of Rafah, take measures to prevent “genocide,” and improve the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.