Palestinians within the Israeli-occupied West Bank are welcoming Ramadan with little of the standard cheer. Amid Israel’s persevering with assaults in Gaza and rising violence within the West Bank, the holy month’s festive decorations and celebratory temper are being changed by emotions of helplessness and despair.
“There’s no joy,” mentioned Hana Karameh, a mom of 5 from the town of Hebron.
Ramadan this yr will probably be “incomplete,” she mentioned. Usually, on the night time earlier than the primary quick of Ramadan begins, they’d pray along with their neighbors and collect for suhoor — the pre-dawn meal — whereas kids shot off fireworks.
On Sunday night time, because the holy month dawned, she mentioned, “there was none of that.”
Even earlier than Ramadan, Ms. Karameh mentioned she had a tough time sitting down for meals understanding that many individuals in Gaza have been ravenous. “I keep asking myself, did they eat? Did they drink? ” she mentioned.
Ms. Karameh mentioned that her husband would normally take their youngest kids to the market to purchase sweets and replenish on meals the night time earlier than Ramadan started. Later he would take them to the mosque to wish Taraweeh, a day by day Ramadan nighttime prayer. But this yr, she mentioned, the household couldn’t do these issues.
“We would usually be seven people at our iftar table,” she mentioned, referring to the night meal that breaks the quick. “But this year we will be five.”
Ms. Karameh’s husband, Jamal, 55, and her daughter Baraah, 19, have been detained greater than three months in the past by Israeli forces and are being held in administrative detention, with out cost or trial. They are among the many greater than 7,500 Palestinians within the West Bank and East Jerusalem who’ve been detained by Israeli forces for the reason that Oct. 7 Hamas-led assaults, in accordance with the Palestinian Authority, which workouts restricted management over the West Bank.
Palestinians within the West Bank are additionally much less more likely to host lavish iftar meals this yr as a result of their financial scenario has worsened during the last 5 months. Israeli restrictions and closures throughout the West Bank have left companies struggling since Oct. 7.
“It’s a very different feeling compared to past years,” mentioned Bassam Abu al-Rub, a journalist from the West Bank city of Jenin, who lives in Nablus. “I went to the supermarket and only bought basic ingredients because when we sit at the table to eat after seeing the scenes in Gaza, we feel heartbroken.”
Worsening violence and common Israeli raids within the West Bank have killed greater than 425 folks there since Oct. 7, in accordance with the Palestinian well being ministry in Ramallah — and the toll continues to climb. The ministry mentioned on Wednesday that Israeli forces had killed two folks in a single day close to the city of Al Jib. The Israeli army has mentioned that the raids are part of their counterterrorism efforts in opposition to members of Hamas within the West Bank.
“On top of the war in Gaza, the West Bank has been living a war since 2021,” Mr. Abu al-Rub mentioned, referring to the yr when Israeli raids, detentions and settler violence started to rise sharply within the occupied territory. “Imagine when you are living this emotional state of daily incursions, sounds of gunfire and gas bombs and regular detentions,” Mr. Abu al-Rub mentioned in a telephone name. “Of course you will fear further escalation” through the holy month, he added.
Mr. Abu al-Rub mentioned that yearly he would stay up for Israel granting him a allow to go to Jerusalem and pray at Al Aqsa Mosque, one of many holiest websites in Islam. But this yr, he didn’t have a lot hope that he would get to go.
Al Aqsa, which is on a web site revered by Jews as the placement of two historic temples, has lengthy been some extent of rivalry, and lately Israel has exerted tighter management over it. On Monday, Israel’s company overseeing coverage for the Palestinian territories posted on Facebook that solely males over the age of 55, girls over the age of fifty and kids underneath the age of 10 could be allowed to enter Israel from the West Bank to wish at Al Aqsa throughout Ramadan.
Gabby Sobelman contributed reporting.
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/03/13/world/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news