How Can We Fast for Ramadan in Gaza When We Were Already Starving?

Just a few months in the past, many people in Gaza have been awaiting this Ramadan with a deep sense of concern. Our solely prayer was that this Ramadan can be completely different from the final one — a month marked by hunger and loss of life. The Israeli occupation had restricted the entry of humanitarian support, inflicting extreme starvation to unfold throughout the Strip, particularly within the north. Markets lay empty, and the meals we had saved for our darkest days was almost gone. Desperation left us questioning: How are we going to outlive?

Most households, together with mine, had no alternative however to grind animal feed into flour to bake bread for iftar and suhoor, the meals we eat throughout Ramadan. The bread was stuffed with sand, its style insufferable, however we have been compelled to eat it simply to remain alive. We additionally relied on wild greens that grew from the winter rain, resembling khobeiza (mallow) and silq (chard), cooking them as our foremost meal for iftar.

We might end iftar nonetheless hungry, dreaming of the scrumptious meals and Arabic desserts that after adorned our Ramadan desk. Hunger drove many, together with kids, to threat their lives by venturing to the Kuwait and Nabulsi corridors — areas swarming with Israeli troopers and tanks — in hopes of intercepting humanitarian support vehicles and securing flour, what we had come to name “white gold.” Few managed to return with a bag of flour. Most got here again empty-handed. Some by no means returned in any respect, whereas others have been injured as most nights of final Ramadan noticed bloody massacres towards hungry Palestinians desperately attempting to get meals for his or her households.

For the primary time, we have been disadvantaged of Ramadan’s pleasures — it turned a month of fixed wrestle and despair. Even within the months that adopted, little modified. The one distinction was that flour and canned meals started getting into the Strip, however costs remained exorbitant — one bag of flour value $80, and a single can of lunch meat was $10. Generally, we have been compelled to eat expired canned meals, and even the flour was infested with worms. It was unfit for consumption, however we had no different possibility — we merely cleaned it and baked it. The phrases that compelled us to endure its terrible style have been all the time the identical: We have now no different alternative.

Recent meals like greens, fruit, eggs and rooster have been unprecedented luxuries, as they weren’t allowed to enter the Strip in the course of the warfare. I personally suffered from jaundice after surviving solely on canned meals, which lacked important vitamins and was stuffed with preservatives.

The considered a brand new Ramadan approaching was terrifying, as we have been nonetheless residing below the identical circumstances. Fasting requires wholesome meals wealthy in nutritional vitamins and protein to endure greater than 14 hours of fasting. With out entry to correct vitamin, our our bodies have been too weak to resist the lengthy hours of fasting.

These have been the concerns that consumed our minds on a regular basis. Nonetheless, when the ceasefire went into impact in January 2025, for a few of us, these fears started to fade, changed by a way of aid and hope we had not felt in a very long time. The ceasefire allowed humanitarian support and items to enter the Strip, giving folks the possibility to return to cooking the meals and desserts that after made Ramadan particular.

For the primary time in so lengthy, the markets are stuffed with objects we had been disadvantaged of — contemporary greens, fruit and even rooster. Retailers promoting Ramadan specialties have reopened, providing treats like kunafa with cream, qataif filled with dates and drizzled with syrup, golden falafel stuffed with onions and sumac, and an array of pickles and dates.

The drinks we as soon as savored throughout Ramadan, resembling carob, tamarind and licorice, are again on the cabinets. Ramadan decorations start showing on the streets, and Islamic nasheeds might be heard from retailers and houses, slowly reviving the acquainted ambiance of Ramadan that had been misplaced in the course of the warfare.

For the primary time, I can sit right down to a meal that actually satisfies me after lengthy hours of fasting. The unfold features a foremost dish of rooster and rice, soup, a contemporary salad, cheese-stuffed samosas and my favourite drink: carob with additional sugar.

After iftar, my household and I put together ourselves to wish al-Tarawih with peaceable hearts, unafraid of bombardment, actually feeling the religious essence of Ramadan. Then, we get pleasure from qataif with Arabic espresso and start making ready for suhoor. For a second, these easy pleasures really feel like goals that after appeared inconceivable to satisfy.

Regardless of the destruction of our houses and the lack of our family members, we have been grateful that this ceasefire gave us an opportunity to reclaim a few of the Ramadan traditions we had been disadvantaged of as a result of warfare. Amid the ache, we held on to hope — that the warfare wouldn’t return, that this Ramadan and the months that adopted would provide us some peace, that we may proceed cooking the meals we longed for, and that hunger wouldn’t return. Nonetheless, our greatest efforts to carry on to hope are consistently shattered by the Israeli occupation.

Just some days in the past, information broke of Israeli threats that the warfare would possibly resume, elevating fears that the ceasefire may collapse. This has left the folks of Gaza in a state of terror, worn down by steady displacement and heavy bombardment.

On high of this, the current Israeli closure of border crossings and the tightening of the blockade on humanitarian support has left many in a relentless state of fear. The meals provide within the markets is barely sufficient for just a few weeks, and dozens of important meals and client items are operating out — particularly perishable objects resembling eggs, greens, rooster and yogurt, that are normally introduced in small portions that final just some days. If this closure continues, it can absolutely result in one other wave of hunger.

Most individuals in Gaza are afraid that the disaster of final Ramadan may repeat itself. We don’t know what the approaching days will deliver, however we pray for peace and stability, removed from the threats of bombardment and starvation.