Fasting Under Ceasefire: The Struggles of Palestinians During Ramadan
Ramadan is a time of reflection, prayer, and gratitude—a month where families gather around the iftar table, breaking their fast with warmth and love. But in Gaza, Ramadan is totally different from what it should be . It is a month where the call to prayer is often drowned out by the sound of airstrikes, where families don’t know if they will live to see another sunset, and where the simple act of breaking fast is a struggle for survival.
On March 18, 2025, Israeli airstrikes struck Gaza, ending a two-month ceasefire that had given people a fragile hope for stability. The attacks claimed the lives of over 400 people, including children, turning it into a Ramadan that no human being deserves to go through.
A Ramadan of Loss and Fear
Imagine sitting with your family at suhoor, not knowing if this will be your last meal together. In Gaza, this fear is a daily reality. Families are torn apart in an instant, and the streets that once carried the laughter of children are now lined with grief. Children who should be spending Ramadan in the comfort of their homes are instead searching for shelter, their eyes reflecting a pain far beyond their years. Parents who should be providing for their loved ones are forced to beg for food, struggling to secure even a sip of clean water. The most necessities—food, water, medicine—have become luxuries.
Fasting on Empty Stomachs
For most of the world, fasting during Ramadan is a spiritual test, broken with a fulfilling meal at sunset. But for Palestinians in Gaza, fasting continues long after maghrib. There is no feast waiting for them—only scraps of whatever aid reaches them, if any at all. Some break their fast with nothing more than a sip of water, while others have nothing at all. This is not just hunger; this is forced starvation. The world watches as an entire population is denied the right to eat, to drink, to live.
Nowhere to Call Home
A home is more than just a shelter; it is a place of belonging, of safety, of love. But in Gaza, homes are destroyed as if they were never meant to exist. Families who once had a place to pray, to eat, to rest, now live in the open, exposed to the harsh cold of night and the unrelenting sun of the day.
What does Ramadan mean when there is no home to gather in? When there is no family left to sit beside? When every night could be the last?
Faith That Cannot Be Broken
Despite everything, the people of Gaza hold onto their faith with unshakable strength. Even as the world turns a blind eye, they continue to pray. Even as they lose everything, they hold onto hope. Their belief remains strong, their resilience unmatched.
These struggles is based on one of the experience and conditions of Palestinians, as shared by Esraa Abo Qamar on Aljazeera . Their pain is real, their struggles unimaginable ,yet their faith endures.
This Ramadan, while we sit in our homes, surrounded by family, with tables full of food, let us remember that what we have is a privilege. Let us not take for granted the things that millions in Gaza only dream of.We must speak up. We must pray. We must spread the truth. The people of Gaza do not need just our sympathy; they need action. They need the world to see their suffering, to demand justice, to ensure that no one has to endure another Ramadan like this.
To our brothers and sisters in Gaza: you are not forgotten. Your pain is seen, your voices are heard, and your strength is admired. May this Ramadan bring you ease, and may the world finally wake up to your struggle.
References:
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2025/3/1/ramadan-in-gaza-ruins-and-unshakable-faith
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/18-march-2025-day-183-children-gaza-were-massacred-israel
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/west-bank-displaced-palestinians-face-ramadan-humiliation-and-uncertainty
Written by: Thrya Abdulraheem Motea Al-aqab
Edited by: Meigitaria Sanita
