With incomplete joy, the children of Gaza try to celebrate Eid al-Adha, like other Muslim children, by playing with simple and limited toys, despite the cruelty of the Israeli war and the destruction that befell the Strip about 9 months ago.
A state of incomplete joy prevails over the children of Gaza, as deep sadness descends upon many of them, who lost their fathers and sons due to the genocidal war, as they find in moments of play and laughter a respite from their tragic reality.
Since the early morning hours, children in displacement and shelter camps in the central and southern Gaza Strip have been rushing to spend their time playing, despite the bitter reality and the pain of war continuing for the ninth month in a row.
The 2.3 million people in Gaza suffer from stifling economic conditions, as they lack money to buy clothes and Eid gifts for children, which deprives them of the Eid atmosphere and joy that their peers around the world enjoy.
On April 21, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said, “Every 10 minutes, a child is killed in the Gaza Strip, while a number of them were injured in intense and indiscriminate (Israeli) attacks.”
Since the beginning of the war on Gaza, Israel has killed 15,694 children, and 34,000 children have been injured, including 1,500 children who lost their limbs or eyes. The occupation has also kidnapped at least 200 children, and 17,000 children have become orphans, with 3% of them losing both their parents. According to the latest statistics from the government media office in Gaza.
Playing despite the war and joy mixed with fear
On a large swing set up west of the city of Deir al-Balah in the middle of the Gaza Strip, the child Mustafa Qassem (15 years old) is having fun with his relatives celebrating Eid al-Adha. He says: “This Eid is completely different from other holidays. We did not buy clothes or sweets. Things are difficult.”
The child Qasim, who was displaced from the city of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, points out that his father “lost his job at the beginning of the Israeli war,” adding: “No one came to greet us because of the war and the continuous bombing, but my father decided to make us happy and gave us some Eid money so we could play.” By swinging and buying something, even if it is simple.”
The situation of the child Rania Al-Arair, 16 years old, displaced from the Al-Shujaiya neighborhood, east of Gaza City, was no different from her previous situation, as she invested her time in playing with her friends despite the intermittent sounds of bombing from time to time.
Al-Arair said, as she ran after her friends in the streets of Khan Yunis: “This Eid, we were not able to buy new clothes, sacrifices, or sweets, and there is no one to give us the Eidiya (a sum of money given by relatives to children on the occasion of Eid).”
She added: "We rejoice while we are afraid of the sound of the bombing. We are also far from our homes that were destroyed by the Israeli army. We lost my brother Muhammad and my sister Sahar because of the bombing."
Drawing a smile despite anxiety
In the town of Al-Zawaida in the middle of the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian visual artist Shaima Nassar draws the map of Palestine in the bright colors of the Palestinian flag on the face of the child Sanaa Ahmed, whose joy was reflected on her face despite her difficult psychological state as a result of her displacement from her hometown in Gaza City.
As soon as the artist finished drawing Sanaa’s face, the little girl happily started dancing and asked her older sister to take a picture of her on her mobile phone to immortalize this beautiful moment. She said: “We are happy about Eid, but we feel fear and anxiety because of the war.”
Artist Shaima Nassar confirmed that she decided to organize this initiative on her own on the first day of Eid, in an attempt to bring joy, pointing out that “children in the Gaza Strip live a very difficult and harsh life that cannot be tolerated, due to bombing, destruction, hunger, thirst, humanitarian crises, and health and environmental disasters.” And deprivation of the minimum rights guaranteed by international treaties, charters and laws.”
Since last October 7, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza with absolute American support, leaving more than 122,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, putting Tel Aviv into international isolation and causing it to be prosecuted before the International Court of Justice.