No feasts, no joy: Gazans mark a dark Eid

New clothes for children, sacrificial sheep and Eid biscuits, the hallmarks of the Muslim holiday, are all either unaffordable or unavailable in Gaza, casting a shadow over what is usually a time of celebration and joy. “I go to the market only to look around because I cannot afford to buy anything. Whenever I ask about prices, I return heartbroken,” Nadia Abu Shamala, a Palestinian resident of Gaza, told AFP. “This year, Eid comes with none of the joy we once knew in Gaza because of the effects of the war, the soaring prices, and our inability to provide even the simplest needs for our children,” said the 40-year-old woman from Gaza’s north displaced to the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah for over two years following the Israeli invasion of the besieged enclave. A girl holding a piece of candy stands among Palestinians performing morning prayers marking the start of Eidul Azha, on a heavily damaged street in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on May 27, 2026. Despite a US-brokered ceasefire that began in October 2025, Israeli air strikes are still common in Gaza, where 80 per cent of buildings were destroyed in the war and most of the population depends on aid for basic needs, according to the United Nations. Israel controls all entry points to Gaza, and lets trucks of foreign aid and private sector goods enter in numbers that are too low to bring down war-inflated prices or shortages, NGOs on the ground say. “The truce is a big lie, but in any case, we are trying to create joy for the children,” said Abu Abdullah al-Mosadar, 59, who told AFP he pooled around 13,000 shekels ($4,570) with his brother to buy a sheep for sacrifice. It is an amount that very few Gazans can afford. “I know it is very expensive, but I decided to perform the sacrifice this year,” said Mosadar, a former property dealer from one of central Gaza’s well-established families, adding that he hopes to start his construction and real estate business when circumstances permit. Sheep shortage