“In any case, I returned, Eid!”, A phrase that reflects the spirit of children in the Gaza Strip who receive the upcoming Eid al -Adha feast on Friday with a tragic reality and famine due to the ongoing killing and the genocide committed by the Israeli army against the Palestinians for 20 months.
Eid al -Adha will be on June 6 to be the fourth feast that passes on the Palestinians with the continuation of the war that left more than 179 thousand people and wounded Palestinians, most of them children and women, and more than 11 thousand missing, in addition to hundreds of thousands of displaced people and famine that killed many, including children.
Unlike the previous three holidays, this holiday passes amid an unprecedented famine as a result of Israel closing the crossings in front of supplies since last March, while children say they are going to sleep at night and they are hungry because there is no bread for their families.
The children state that the feast has lost its meaning after the war deprived them of their loved ones and killing them, while spending all their time in constant fear due to the severity of the explosions caused by the violent Israeli bombing.
Besides, the loss of children, safe, healthy housing, and clean clothes, killing their joy on the feast, as they live in the midst of force majeure in worn tents to which insects and rodents infiltrate their suffering.
They point out that the war lost their childhood and their prohibition of their basic rights, such as education, security and play, as they bear more responsibilities than their ages, such as waiting for queues to get food and water.
Farah missing
The 11 -year -old Ritaj Shamia, says she lost the feeling of the joy of the Eid due to the difficult conditions in Gaza.
“I do not feel the feast, we have no new clothes or money,” she added, indicating that the forms of children have changed due to the war, their repercussions, water shortages and personal hygiene requirements.
Sadness and weighted blood
In turn, the 16 -year -old Farah Muqbel, who had been displaced two days before her home in the town of Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, says that the difficulty of life has increased due to genocide.
She explains that before the start of the genocide, the feast was full of joy, but today the children with difficult humanitarian conditions do not feel joy or general atmosphere.
And remember that the next holiday is in the midst of famine and great sadness, saying: “We were on the previous holidays.
And she continues: “This holiday is full of blood and fear, we sleep on bombing, martyrs, blood, and we wake up to the same news.”
Farah expresses her wishes that the next holiday will be resolved with a ceasefire that ends the extermination and continuous displacement, while the Arab nation demanded that it be out of its silence and stand by the Palestinians and support them.
Fear and hunger
For his part, the child Adel Muqbel says that the war stole more than a year and a half of his life.
He adds that he does not feel the approach of the feast with the absence of sacrifices, and that he lacks the state of general joy and new clothes that were delighted by their hearts during the days of Eid.
He notes that these days have a strong sadness and continuous fear, continuing: “I sleep and I am afraid” as a result of the violent Israeli raids every day.
He also spends the times of his day hungry with the lack of food availability and their scarcity, especially the flour, saying: “Every day I sleep and I am hungry.”
According to the United Nations, Israel pushed the Palestinians to starvation by closing the crossings in front of humanitarian aid, especially food.
Michael Fakhry, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Food, said last Thursday that Israel brought Gaza to “the most dangerous stages of starvation.”
He warned that the effects of starvation will continue generations, stressing that what is happening is “genocide, starvation, crime against humanity, and a serious violation of human rights.”
Muqbel asserts that the Israeli war stole the simple rights of children such as play and education, and that they were deprived of going to school, learning and reading, as well as deprived them of the feast as well.
The Palestinian child is calling for the stopping of the genocide war and the introduction of aid, appealing to the Arab nation to stand by them.
He expresses his grief from the difficult conditions in which they live, especially with the lack of food, fruits and vegetables, saying that the water they drink is salty as well.
Since October 7, 2023, 60 Palestinian children have been martyred as a result of malnutrition caused by the continuous Israeli siege, according to the latest census of the Ministry of Health.
Great responsibilities
On his contribution during the war, Muqbel says that he bears new and large responsibilities and that he loses childhood rights due to genocide.
He explains that he goes daily after waking up directly to a far place to get water and deliver it to the place of his family’s displacement.
It is also reported that, he goes to the free distribution of food for a meal that blocks his family’s spear, but he often returns with a nostalgia.
He continues: “Whenever I go to the hospice for food, I have different burns, and I cannot get meals.”
On his ambitions, Muqbel says that he dreams of becoming a doctor to treat the wounded who are injured as a result of the crimes committed by the Israeli army.
The feast is on Gaza at a time when citizens are struggling daily to secure the minimum means of survival, with continuous shelling, widespread destruction, lack of income sources, and the absence of humanitarian aid.