Ramadan begins in Gaza amid ruins of shattered mosques
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Palestinian children sitting atop rubble of a mosque destroyed during the two-year Israeli offensives, surrounded by tents for displaced Palestinians, in Gaza City on Feb 11.
PHOTO: REUTERS
GAZA – As the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan began in Gaza on Feb 18, Palestinians headed to shattered ruins of mosques or to makeshift prayer spaces made of tarpaulins and wood, mourning their dead and their lost places of worship.
In Gaza City, the dome of the now destroyed Al Hassaina mosque rests on top of a pile of rubble. Its former courtyard, where worshippers once gathered and today families sleep and cook among the ruins, is criss-crossed with washing lines.
“I can’t bear to look at it,” said 61-year-old Sami Al Hissi, a volunteer at the mosque in Gaza City, standing on rubble where rows of worshippers once stood shoulder to shoulder in prayer.
“We used to pray comfortably. We used to see our friends, our loved ones. Now there are no loved ones, no friends and no mosque,” he said.
Children clamber over the cracked domes and women collect laundry hung between broken columns.
Mr Al Hissi said the mosque had drawn worshippers from other neighbourhoods, including Shejaia and Daraj, during Ramadan.
“It would be filled with thousands,” he said. “But now, where are they supposed to pray? It’s all rubble and destruction. There’s barely enough space for a hundred people.”
Israel launched its air and ground war in Gaza after a Hamas-led cross-border attack on Oct 7, 2023, that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s assault has killed 72,000 Palestinians, the health authorities say.
The Hamas-run Gaza government media office says Israeli forces have completely destroyed 835 mosques and partially damaged 180. It added Israel has targeted churches in attacks on multiple occasions, and destroyed 40 of Gaza’s 60 cemeteries.
Israel says it targets militant infrastructure and accuses Palestinian armed groups of operating in civilian areas, including mosques, an allegation Hamas denies.
‘Pray in tents’
For many residents, the loss is both spiritual and communal.
“We wish we could welcome Ramadan in a different atmosphere,” said Ms Khitam Jabr, displaced and now staying at Al Hassaina mosque.
“We don’t have enough mosques. All of the mosques were destroyed and there’s nowhere to pray. Now we pray in tents, and the mosques have become centres for the displaced.”
Despite the devastation and severe shortage of materials, people are attempting to rebuild small sections of mosques and set up makeshift prayer spaces using re-used plastic sheeting and wood, said Mr Amir Abu Al-Amrain, director of the Religious Affairs Ministry in Gaza City.
“Four hundred and thirty prayer areas have been rebuilt, some using plastic sheets from greenhouses, some made of wood, and some constructed with plastic sheets from tents,” he said. REUTERS
