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War Ramadan in Rafah without lights or sweets - REPORTAGE - War in the Middle East

2024-03-10T17:29:06.262Z

Highlights: War Ramadan in Rafah without lights or sweets. People say it: almost everything is missing but above all the truce that many hoped for. There are no decorations, the products in the shops cost 10 times the normal price, there are no sweets because there is no sugar in the market. "We are already forced to fast because we have no food, how can we fast during Ramadan?", Waleed Anter, 36, who lives in a tent near the western Saudi neighborhood of Rafah, told ANSA.


'How can we keep the fast if we are already starving?' (HANDLE)


It is the most difficult Ramadan ever in Gaza.

And for Rafah, in the south of the Strip, one step away from Egypt, full of displaced people, it is no different.

People say it: almost everything is missing but above all the truce that many hoped for.

The atmosphere is not that of the usual Ramadan: in past years the preparations were already in full swing a week before, the houses were lit up with colored lights, the shops were open all night.

People bought dried dates, sweets, drinks and soaps.

Today this is not the case: in Rafah people live in shelters or tent camps in very harsh conditions, far from home and without electricity, gas, fuel and normal kitchens.

And the pain for the dead family members weighs heavily.

There are no decorations, the products in the shops cost 10 times the normal price, there are no sweets because there is no sugar in the market.

A week ago, the mobile phone company 'Oreedoo', one of the two communications companies working in the Palestinian Territories, decided to take action and decorate dozens of tents in the western area of ​​Rafah to cheer up some families.

He distributed lights and colored decorations for the children: an exception which, however, people were unable to enjoy due to the air raids.

"It all seems sad and ugly," the owner of the bakery on the main street tells ANSA as he prepares only cheesecakes to sell them for 3 shekels each.

Before the war he prepared 'Qatayef', the main dessert that people eat after Ramadan dinner: today it is unobtainable.

People - many underline - are facing the worst challenge, that of hunger.

The most problematic issue - they denounce - is that people in the southern area of ​​the Strip have relatives in the northern area and in Gaza City, where the situation is even worse and people are fighting to get food parcels thrown from the sky while waiting for humanitarian aid from north.

It's a contradiction that makes everyone angry.

"We are already forced to fast because we have no food, how can we fast during Ramadan?", Waleed Anter, 36, a father of three, who lives in a tent near the western Saudi neighborhood of Rafah, told the reporter.

During the war there were no local religious authorities to provide instructions to the community: people - some report - were left alone and had to decide independently what to do and whether they could fast or not.

But there is also another question that worries people about Ramadan: "If Israel and Hamas make a truce, will the displaced people be allowed to return to their homes and live in some way normal conditions during Ramadan?".   

Reproduction reserved © Copyright ANSA

Source: ansa

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