Eid is approaching in Gaza, but this time it does not arrive the way we have always known it.
There are no loud laughs filling the markets, no crowded streets carrying the spirit of past years, and no hearts waiting peacefully for the morning of Eid with complete happiness.
In Gaza, Eid now arrives carrying mixed emotions: a little joy we desperately try to hold onto, and immense sorrow imposed by war, destruction, and loss.
“If you want to help me and my family”
How can a city exhausted by massacres, with streets buried beneath rubble, welcome another Eid?
And how can parents hide their helplessness from children waiting for Eid clothes and sweets, just as they did every year before?
Gaza’s Children… Still Waiting for Joy
Despite everything, Gaza’s children are still excited for Eid.
A child does not understand politics or war; they only remember that Eid once brought beautiful things:
new clothes, simple toys, family visits, and sweets that were enough to create an entire world of happiness.
But today’s reality is harsh and different.
Many fathers stand helpless before their children’s small wishes, not because they do not want to make them happy, but because war has stolen their ability to do so.
Markets are either empty or unbearably expensive, work has nearly stopped, money has become scarce, while needs continue to grow every single day.
A father now fears hearing his child ask:
“When will we buy Eid clothes?”
Because the answer may break his own heart before it breaks the child’s.
Eid Under Bombing and Fear
In previous years, even during the hardest times, people still tried to create moments of joy despite the siege and suffering.
But after this war, everything changed.
Eid in Gaza has become more connected to fear than peace, and to anxiety more than comfort.
With every occasion, the occupation intensified its bombing and aggression, as if joy itself was forbidden in this city.
How many families welcomed Eid while searching for a martyr beneath the rubble?
How many mothers lost their children only days before the Eid prayers?
And how many children will experience Eid this year without a father, a mother, or even a home?
In Gaza, even celebrations have begun to carry the scent of war.
The Silent Pain of Parents
The hardest feeling for a father or mother is not hunger alone, but the helplessness of being unable to provide for their children’s needs.
To watch your child dream of something simple while you cannot give it to them is a kind of pain words cannot truly describe.
Many parents in Gaza live with this painful feeling every day.
They hide their sorrow, forcing smiles in front of their children despite fear, exhaustion, and heartbreak.
It is a silent suffering that cameras do not always capture, yet it lives inside every home wounded by war.
Gaza… A City That Suffers but Does Not Break
Despite all this destruction, Gaza still tries to hold onto life.
People still exchange Eid greetings, mothers still try to create happiness from the simplest things, and children still run between the ruins as if resisting sadness in their own innocent way.
Gaza is not merely a city living through war; it is a city fighting to keep its humanity alive.
That is why praying for Gaza today is not just words, but a message of solidarity with a people struggling to survive every single day.
Conclusion
Eid in Gaza this year is neither completely joyful nor completely sorrowful.
It is an Eid carrying the tears of mothers, the patience of fathers, and the small dreams of children trying to stay alive amid destruction.
We pray that God grants mercy to the martyrs, healing to the wounded, and patience to every father and mother enduring pain, helplessness, and suffering.
And we pray for the day when Gaza finally wakes up to real peace instead of the sound of bombardment, and when Eid returns as it once was… filled with safety, joy, and life.
Will that day come?
Despite everything, the people of Gaza still believe that after this long night, dawn must eventually rise.
So sad and beyond any imagination and words to describe how I feel about suffering of those brave people and thousands shattered childhoods. God bless and protect people of Gaza and Eid Mubarak to all of you.