Hamzah Rifaat
Source: Al Mayadeen English
Palestinians in Gaza have not despaired. In fact, they continue to demonstrate remarkable strength as the holy month of Ramadan in 2025 enters its nascent stages.
Examined closely, the story of Ramadan 2025 in Gaza is a tale of resilience, fortitude and determination. The unwavering spirit of those fasting acts as an inspiration for all those who continue to suffer from occupation, segregation, discrimination and genocide.
Marked differences with indelible wounds
"Israel’s" ruthless apartheid has continued for decades, leaving Palestinians isolated, deprived and occupied. However, there was relative calm in Gaza during Ramadan prior to "Israel’s" genocide, which commenced in 2023. Festivities were marked by mass prayers, social gatherings, shopping sprees, high mosque turnout, and regular meetings during Iftar with relatives. The situation in the post-genocide scenario, however, is bleak, where entire generations have been wiped out while women, children, the elderly, and the disabled continue to suffer from "state-sponsored terrorism" and brutality. Palestinians in Gaza, however, are seen fasting amid leveled houses, apartments, buildings, schools, and mosques. They are hungry, thirsty, disillusioned, displaced, crippled and unable to carry on normally with religious traditions.
Adding to their predicament in Ramadan 2025 is "Israel’s" wanton violation of the fragile ceasefire, which includes new construction around the Philadelphi Corridor and delays in releasing Palestinian prisoners. As per Gaza’s Government Media Office, the post-ceasefire environment resulted in "Israel" conducting military incursions in Gaza, airstrikes, extrajudicial killings, and infliction of severe injuries on innocent women and children.
As a result, when Palestinians in Gaza break their fast or prepare for it during Suhoor in Ramadan, they do so in a perpetual state of fear, uncertainty, and doubt over whether they could survive in the next twenty-four hours. Many are fasting without family members in 2025 or are grieving over personal losses as mass graves continue to be flooded with more martyrs. This harrowing environment has also increased the incidence and prevalence of PTSDs in individuals, women, children, and the disabled. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), around 1 million Gaza children need mental health and psychosocial support for depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. These very children, like their adult counterparts, however, continue to fast with many being without parents, relatives, and siblings.
This, in itself, is a remarkable tale of determination and resilience against the odds.
A Ramadan without aid
It is evident from the scale of destruction witnessed in Gaza that it would take decades to rebuild. It is also evident that Palestinians need resuscitation in these challenging times where the month of Ramadan should be characterized by unfettered access to food and aid. However, that has not been the case with "Israel" cutting off all aid and supplies into the strip citing measures against the Palestinian Resistance as a pretext. The knee-jerk policy, which lacks merit, constitutes a deliberate attempt by the Netanyahu regime to derail the already fragile ceasefire agreement and to weaponize starvation to ensure that Palestinians die en masse.
As a result, many Palestinians in Gaza are waking up to the harsh reality that they will no longer have access to basic necessities such as food or clean drinking water but will, instead, fast as devout Muslims, with or without it. Shopping for essential household goods, for example, remains a tedious and cumbersome task, and the Palestinian prisoners and captives released after being tortured in Israeli prisons also have to contend with fasting in harsh conditions and economic turmoil. All in all, it is an intractable quagmire as hunger is worsening across the strip and famine is imminent. It also demonstrates that Ramadan in 2025 for the people of Gaza will remain an uphill task where catastrophic food insecurity coincides with perpetual physical and psychological insecurity over what lies ahead.
Against all odds, Palestinians in Gaza exhibit remarkable fortitude
Despite these harsh dynamics, Palestinians in Gaza uphold their determination and remain relentless in their quest to fast during Ramadan and not abandon their homes despite Israeli bombardments. Many, such as Nasser Shoueikh, express unwavering faith in God by saying, "We ask God to stand by us." Similarly, Al Absi from Jabalia says, "We don’t want war, we just want peace and security." This is clear proof that the Zionist regime bombards innocent people, mercilessly kills them, and deprives them of their existence, away from the presence of any Resistance fighter.
Yet, fasting rituals in Gaza continue unabated with limited resources, limited time, and impending death at their doorsteps. By doing so, the people in Gaza have demonstrated to the world what the true spirit of Ramadan should be about, which is sharing, taking care of fellow Muslims and human beings, being free from want, being patient, and, above all, demonstrating remarkable resilience and fortitude amid rubble, bombs, destruction and genocide.
In essence, Palestinians in Gaza are God-fearing, resolute, determined, and peaceful people with the spirit of Ramadan 2025 living on in them as they continue to resist "Israel’s" barbarity.
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