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Gaza

- Nadia Al-Debs woke up on Sunday morning to the voice of her young son, 8 years old, asking her to bring his father to the tent so he could bring him the “Ramadan lantern” that he used to bring him every year.

"Nadia" cried a lot because she knew that it was impossible to carry out her son's request, as her husband lives in the northern Gaza Strip, while she is with her children in the city of Deir al-Balah in the middle of the besieged Strip, in light of Israel completely preventing communication between the two regions.

What increases the mother’s pain is that the approaching month of Ramadan in the absence of the “father” has left her eldest daughter in a state of “depression” that has made her refuse to eat and drink.

The Palestinian mother was displaced about 4 months ago from Gaza City with her three children, escaping the war of extermination waged by the Israeli occupation army, in the hope that her husband would join her.

But the father was unable to join his family, because he does not have a “personal identity card,” according to his wife, which separated the family.

Nadia was overcome with tears as she complained about the harshness of life, especially since the approaching month of Ramadan made her children extremely sad about the absence of their father.

She added to Al Jazeera Net, "My young son is very attached to his father, and he says to me: Bring me my father now. Let him bring me a Ramadan lantern and come now."

After a few moments of crying, she added, “God suffices me, and He is the best disposer of affairs. We do not feel the atmosphere of Ramadan, neither our night is night nor our day is day.”

Nadia Al-Debs misses her husband during Ramadan after the occupation army separated the family (Al-Jazeera)

The missing corner

The father was accustomed to buying 3 lanterns, before the advent of the month of Ramadan, and distributing them among his three children, a habit that the occupation deprived him of.

The mother continues, "The greatest suffering in Ramadan is that a family member is missing, and not just any individual. Rather, the basic pillar is the missing person, which is the father. Our situation is indescribable. Any family separated is indescribable."

The "Debs" family is an example of many Palestinian families in the Gaza Strip that were dispersed by the Israeli occupation army, and will be forced to spend the month of Ramadan dismembered.

Nadia Al-Debs suffers not only from the absence of her husband during the month of Ramadan, but also from many of life's necessities, as she lives in a tent without water or electricity, without a kitchen or toilet, and finds it very difficult to obtain food.

In search of better conditions to spend the month of Ramadan, in light of the starvation policy practiced by Israel against the northern Gaza Strip, the family of “Najla Entez” decided to leave.

On Saturday, Najla, accompanied by her husband and seven children, arrived in the city of Deir al-Balah (central), coming from Gaza City, through a one-way corridor established by the occupation army for the residents of the north to leave towards the south, while movement in the opposite direction is not allowed.

She told Al Jazeera Net, "Spending Ramadan in (northern) Gaza is fasting too much, and it is not healthy for a person to endure hunger and poverty."

"Najla" recalls that "famine" in Gaza forced people to "eat green grass, if they found it."

As an eyewitness, she remembers that the atmosphere to welcome the month of Ramadan is completely lost in the northern Gaza Strip, and she adds, “The situation of the people of Gaza is very difficult, and I speak on their behalf: the markets have been wiped out, there is no food or drink, and aid does not go to all people... Gaza has become uninhabitable.”

Despite the atmosphere of sadness, the continuation of war, and the displacement from homes, some Palestinians in Gaza are trying to celebrate the advent of Ramadan (Al Jazeera)

Joy despite the war

Despite the atmosphere of sadness and fear prevailing in the Gaza Strip, due to the Israeli aggression, Saeed Abu Al-Naja is trying to bring some happiness to his family, by hanging Ramadan decorations on the corners of his tent.

The cost of the decorations was approximately 50 shekels ($14), which Abu al-Naga paid despite the economic hardship he was going through.

In addition to the decorations, Abu Al-Naga decided to hold “Tarawih prayers” inside the tent with the participation of the family and neighbors, with the aim of preserving the religious customs of Ramadan.

Abu Al-Naga is concerned about how to provide the necessary food for suhoor and iftar meals during the holy month.

He told Al Jazeera Net that there is no escape from relying on canned food distributed by relief institutions, in light of the inability to cook the usual food during the month of Ramadan.

Abu Al-Naja also rules out the ability of Palestinians in Gaza to maintain family ties and visit each other as usual, given Israel’s dismemberment of people in the north and south, and the danger of moving between regions.

Due to the lack of “lanterns” in the market, Sondos Al-Numailat (17 years old) decided to learn how to make them by searching online, and she actually succeeded in making several models of them using paper.

While she was putting the finishing touches to a paper lantern in her family's tent in the city of Deir al-Balah, she told Al Jazeera Net, "I am making a Ramadan lantern, which I learned from the Internet, in order to make the children happy with the arrival of the blessed month of Ramadan."

Despite her efforts to bring joy to her family, Sondos feels sad on a personal level, because she lacks the atmosphere of Ramadan in her house, which was demolished by the occupation army, and she is forced to spend the month of Ramadan in a tent.

She added, "In the past, I used to spend Ramadan at home, with the family gathering and joy, but now in the tent and not everyone gathers there."

Sondos Al-Numailat makes a handmade lantern using paper in an attempt to bring joy to her family (Al-Jazeera)

No Ramadan atmosphere

Heba Hindawi's harsh circumstances do not allow her to feel the joys of the coming of Ramadan, as her husband, who suffers from paraplegia, is in the hospital, while her family lives in a state of extreme poverty.

While she was cleaning drinking glasses and eating utensils using a “general” water hose used by the displaced, she said that this year’s Ramadan is without “joy, atmosphere, taste, or joy because our living conditions are difficult.”

She added to Al Jazeera Net, "How will we feel the atmosphere of Ramadan when we live in a tent, and there is no kitchen or bathroom, and we have martyrs, missing persons, patients in the hospital, and difficult cases?! There is no taste or joy for Ramadan in Gaza."

She continues, "I will spend Ramadan in the tent, without eating, drinking, household utensils, or a gas stove. We collect cardboard and firewood to heat a can of beans, and no vegetables. The prices are expensive. My husband suffers from hemiplegia and is sleeping in the hospital. My daughter has a hole in her heart. There is no... Someone is spending on me, so how will we spend Ramadan?”

She concluded her speech by saying, "People are tired and sad, and the martyrs and the missing are in every home, and no one is safe (from the aggression)."

Lanterns and paper decorations in tents to celebrate Ramadan despite the atmosphere of war (Al Jazeera)

Source: Al Jazeera