Gaza marks start of Eid al-Adha with outdoor prayers

Deir al-Balah: Palestinians across the war-ravaged Gaza Strip marked the start of one of Islam’s most important holidays with prayers outside destroyed mosques and homes early Friday, with little hope the war with Israel will end soon.

With much of Gaza in rubble, men and children were forced to hold the traditional Eid al-Adha prayers in the open air and with food supplies dwindling, families were having to make do with what they could scrape together for the three-day feast.

“This is the worst feast that the Palestinian people have experienced because of the unjust war against the Palestinian people,” said Kamel Emran after attending prayers in the southern city of Khan Younis. “There is no food, no flour, no shelter, no mosques, no homes, no mattresses ... The conditions are very, very harsh.”

The Islamic holiday begins on the 10th day of the Islamic lunar month of Dhul-Hijja, during the Hajj season in Saudi Arabia. For the second year, Muslims in Gaza were not able to travel to Saudi Arabia to perform the traditional pilgrimage. Israel issues new warning

In the southern city of Rafah, seven people were shot and killed on their way to try and collect humanitarian aid from a distribution point, according to officials at Nasser Hospital in nearby Khan Younis where the bodies were brought.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the hospital’s claim but said it was looking into the report.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a newly formed group of mainly American contractors that Israel wants to use to replace humanitarian groups in Gaza that distribute aid in coordination with the UN, told The Associated Press that reports of violence in Rafah were inaccurate and that aid distribution was completed “peacefully and without incident.” agencies