A Palestinian youth plays with a sparkler in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on the eve of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan on March 10, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED / AFP)
Rafah, Gaza Strip: Palestinians began fasting for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on Monday with cease-fire talks at a standstill, hunger worsening across the Gaza Strip and no end in sight to the 5-month-old war between Israel and Hamas.
Prayers were held outside amid the rubble of demolished buildings. Fairy lights and decorations were hung in packed tent camps, and a video from a U.N.-school-turned-shelter showed children dancing and spraying foam in celebration as a man sang into a loudspeaker.
But there was little to celebrate after five months of war that has killed over 30,000 Palestinians and left much of Gaza in ruins.
Families would ordinarily break the daily sunrise-to-sundown fast with holiday feasts, but even where food is available, there is little beyond canned goods, and the prices are too high for many.
"You don't see anyone with joy in their eyes," said Sabah al-Hendi, who was shopping for food Sunday in the southernmost city of Rafah. "Every family is sad. Every family has a martyr."
The United States, Qatar and Egypt had hoped to broker a cease-fire ahead of the normally joyous holiday that would include the release of dozens of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, and the entry of a large amount of humanitarian aid, but the talks have stalled.
Hamas is demanding guarantees that any such agreement will lead to an end to the war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected that demand, vowing to continue the offensive until "total victory” against the Hamas group and the release of all the remaining hostages held in Gaza.
