After 70 days of praying at home, the faithful in the Gaza Strip found their way to their mosques on Wednesday June 3, which had closed as part of the fight against the new coronavirus in the Palestinian enclave.
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Some had already reopened on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, a Muslim holiday that marked the end of Ramadan ten days ago, but all mosques are now open in the Gaza Strip.
Khader Moussa, 40, was "overjoyed" to be able to pray again in his mosque. But this resident of Gaza City remained cautious, going there "only two minutes before the start of prayer to avoid contact with other faithful" and leaving the place "without shaking hands" .
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The Ministry of Religious Affairs asked the faithful to continue to wear protective masks and to respect physical distancing, assuring in a statement that the mosques would continue to be disinfected to prevent the spread of the virus. The Gaza Strip has officially registered around 60 cases of Covid-19 and one death since the announcement of a first contamination on March 22, which had led to the closure of mosques, restaurants and universities.
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The number of patients more than doubled in mid-May due to a wave of residents returning from Egypt and, in smaller numbers, from Israel. From the start of the pandemic, observers had warned of the risks for residents of the Gaza Strip due to the high population density, poor health infrastructure and the high rate of poverty. Two million Palestinians live under a strict Israeli blockade in this narrow strip of land, wedged between Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea and controlled by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.
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