Desperate days

Hanaa al-Masry and her six children thought they would be celebrating RamadanThe ninth month of the Islamic year, during which Muslims are required to fast from dawn until dusk. at home. Instead, they find themselves living in a battered tent. "My neighbours and I used to adorn our street with lights and lanterns," says Hanaa.¹ "But now everything around us is bleak. The streets bear the scars of IsraeliFrom Israel, a country in the Middle East. Just over 70% of its population is Jewish, while 20% is Arab. bombings, and the community is in mourning."

Ramadan lasts for a month. During it, observant Muslims devote themselves to fasting, prayer and charitable works. They have a small meal called suhoor before dawn and another called iftar after nightfall, but nothing in between. 

"I used to love preparing a meal of cheese, jam, beans and eggs to keep my family going through the fast and then something tasty for iftar," says Hanaa. But food supplies in GazaThe smaller of two Palestinian territories, home to two million people. It is located on the Mediterranean coast, bordered by Israel and Egypt. are so limited that this now seems like an impossible luxury.

Many families are living on boiled weeds and tins of food brought in from Egypt by charities. Milk, fruit and vegetables are very expensive and hard to come by. A pound of sugar costs £8 - nearly 10 times more than in a British supermarket. And according to the HamasA militant Palestinian organisation, which has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007. It is listed as a terrorist organisation in the UK.-run health authority, at least 20 people have died of malnutritionPoor nutrition - caused by not having enough to eat or not having the right foods. .

Hussein al-Adwa, a charity worker, says that he has hardly tasted meat since the current war was triggered by Hamas's savage attack on Israel on 7 OctoberOn 7 October 2023, the Palestinian group Hamas, which controls Gaza, carried out a series of surprise attacks on Israel, killing more than 1,000 people and taking more than one hundred hostages. . Instead, he has been surviving on tins of beans.

Lack of food and homelessness are not the only problems. Israel has cut off electricity supplies and bombing has destroyed most of the infrastructureThe basic systems and services that a country needs to keep it going.. Not enough fuel is being allowed into Gaza to run the generators and pumps needed to keep basic services going. Donkey carts are now the main means of transport.

On top of that there is fear of the next attack. Israel is now threatening an assault on RafahA Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip. It is close to the border with Egypt. It is now home to hundreds of thousands of displaced people. , where it says Hamas's remaining forces are based.

Then there is separation from family at a time traditionally spent with relatives. "We've always been together for Ramadan," says Awda, a refugee whose wife and children escaped to Egypt while he stayed to care for his parents. "To be split up like this... I don't know how to explain it to my children. My youngest is beginning to talk and I can only hear him on my phone if I can find some internet connection - but even that is very hard."²

Is there a glimmer of hope?

Yes: The US is planning to supply Gaza by sea, and Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under intense pressure from international leaders including President Biden to curtail the suffering.

No: Both Netanyahu and Hamas's leader Yahya Sinwar want to keep the conflict going. If there is a prolonged pause, they will both face critical enquiries into how it was allowed to happen.

Or... The Palestinian Authority, which runs the West BankA landlocked territory bordered by Israel, Jordan and the Dead Sea. It is the largest of the Palestinian territories. , offers hope. It is refusing to be drawn into Hamas's war, and is well placed to offer Gaza more responsible leadership when things calm down.