Gaza observes Ramadan in fear over aid block and end of ceasefire: ‘We no longer have the strength to stop them from cutting off our food’
Gazans stock up on basic goods for fear of shortages and a resumption of war
In the Muslim world, Ramadan, which began last Saturday, is a month of community celebration, prayer and charity, when the streets are decorated and, in the evenings after the fast is broken, filled with people and food stalls. For Gazan Hossam Nasser, however, these are days of “great anxiety” due to the increasing drumbeats of war by the government of Benjamin Netanyahu and its decision on Sunday to indefinitely cut off humanitarian aid, to force Hamas to accept changes and violations of the ceasefire they agreed to in January. “Unfortunately, we depend on that aid. On the little that we get, like flour, rice and lentils. I live with my children, my brother and his family in a tent. And I say it frankly: life be damned, if this is what life is like,” he laments through WhatsApp messages (Israel has prevented access to the press since the beginning of the war). On Sunday night, the first night of Israel’s collective punishment, Gazans rushed to stock up on supplies. Basic products such as flour have doubled in price.
