With the sunset marking the onset of the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Islamic countries the situation in Gaza remains catastrophic – people are starving, homeless and under regular attacks of the Israeli military. Ramadan has started and as most of you know, this is the month which always signifies reflection as well as congregation but unfortunately, the strife that continues for over five months has pushed the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza into greater woes.
International NGOs are already saying that Gaza is in Famine, acute malnutrition rates among the population, but especially in children have more than doubled. According to the World Food Programme, 90% of households in northern Gaza didn’t have anything to eat all day at least one day in the week. This is even worse in area such as Rafah since over fifty percent of the population in the Gaza territory has fled from fighting in other places in the area.
Delivering assistance has remained challenging through frequent security threats, infrastructure which has been affected, and lack of proper working bureaucracies. An analogous recent episode documented and allegedly witnessed by Human Rights Watch researchers involved the shooting of Palestinians waiting for food delivery by Israeli forces. Health Ministry from Gaza said that more than 20 people were killed and dozens wounded due to the subsequent unrest.
Humanitarian organizations such as the United Nations have in the past sought to have a cease-fire that is immediate so that workers and other people can be able to deliver aid to the needy as well as wanton killing of the civilians. However, all efforts to reach a middle ground have so far not produced results. The U.S., Qatar, and Egypt planned to reach a cease-fire deal earlier this week ahead of the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan but failed to agree on the modes of implementing the prisoners’ exchange and the Israeli military pullout.
Israeli leadership insists that its armed forces’ actions are required to neutralize Hamas and free hostages captured on October 7. Nevertheless, increasing numbers of people killed in the conflict and the deterioration of Gaza’s infrastructures have raised concerns around the world. Gaza Health Ministry puts the figure at 31,000 and more are maimed or buried under the debris, in the Palestinian territories.
Ramadan has started and it has only made the situation even worse. While it has become challenging for many Gazans to fast during the Holy month owing to regional shortages of traditional fasting commodities such as food and water, this section reveals some of the sadistic Ironies of New Arab Media on the region. Obviously the communal iftar, the daily breaking of fasts are unfeasible for most families displaced or having lost their near and dear ones. The religious and communal parts of the holy month have been relegated to the background due to the basic fight of existence.
The demands on the Israeli government to open the borders to deliver more aid into Gaza and for the government to ease the attacks on Gaza have been increasing in the past few weeks. The United States, still Israel’s biggest benefactor, has begun to express more concern with the conditions and effect on civilians. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the attack will continue including the ground maneuver in Rafah though humanitarian organizations have warned that such an attack will likely lead to genocides.
The conflict in the Gaza Strip also has regional implications. They lead to tensions with neighboring countries and have worsened relations with Hezbollah in Lebanon. Fears have been raised that the humanitarian crisis as well the fighting could escalate into a deeper regional crisis especially when it get to the Islamic month of Ramadan.
Understanding that more people died in Gaza during Ramadan the world is once again asked to look for a diplomatic solution. However, now with both sides’ representatives eager to preserve their political positions, the chances for solving the conflict in the nearest future look far from bright. Until then, Palestinians remain incarcerated in Gaza Strip and endure the Ramadan fasting, not knowing when they will at last be able to break the fast as free people in a free country, and hope is infinitesimal.
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