Gaza, February 12, 2026 (WAFA) – Mohammed Dahman
This is the third Ramadan that will come to the beleaguered Gaza Strip, burdened by the genocidal war waged by the Israeli occupation since October 7, 2023, and its economic and humanitarian repercussions.
In addition to the tens of thousands of victims, including martyrs, wounded, and missing persons, and the massive destruction that affected everything in the sector, from infrastructure and homes to tents, families in Gaza have lost their sources of livelihood and have not regained their ability to secure the simplest requirements of the holy month, amidst widespread destruction, continuous displacement, a crazy rise in prices, and an almost complete lack of sources of income. Moreover, the markets have not yet recovered from the horror of the devastation that befell them.
In Khan Younis Governorate in the southern Gaza Strip, Zaher Al-Qudra, owner of “Al-Qudra Supermarket,” welcomes Ramadan with many painful memories, as he witnesses the extent of the loss suffered by the commercial sector, with the evacuation orders issued by the occupation in May of last year.
The ability to recall the image of Gazans welcoming the holy month of Ramadan before the occupation’s aggression, when preparations would begin a month or more in advance, as if it were a “national and religious wedding,” where shelves would be filled with apricot paste, cheeses and dairy products, the finest types of dates, pickles, processed meats, tahini halva, and juices, in addition to Ramadan decorations, as well as the making of qatayef, one of the most important sweets of the holy month .
But in the blink of an eye, the supermarket was reduced to rubble, after the entire area, including his house located near the European Hospital, was subjected to intense shelling without warning, as the occupation launched dozens of high-explosive missiles into the ground, including three missiles that fell directly in front of his house, turning the place into rubble and a ghost town, and forcing citizens to flee, with the spread of warplanes and the approach of tanks .
Al-Qudra says that the occupation army called the morning after the bombing and forced them to evacuate the area again, giving them only 10 minutes. The family left everything behind, and then what remained of the house and the neighboring houses were completely blown up. The supermarket that the family depended on for their livelihood was also destroyed.
He adds that their losses as a result are estimated at about two million dollars, in addition to the complete cessation of work, noting that the area had been targeted several times during the aggression, and each time the family would rebuild the supermarket, before the occupation would return to bomb it again .
After being displaced to the Al-Mawasi area west of Khan Younis, he was forced to reopen a new and modest project, which is a small supermarket, but this time in a tent, covered with plastic tarpaulins on Al-Rashid coastal street, with an area not exceeding 300 square meters, two months after the displacement, in June 2025, in light of severe famine and siege .
He confirms that the challenges still exist, as some basic Ramadan goods are still unavailable, most notably cheeses of all kinds, dates, juices, and Ramadan decorations, in addition to the sharp fluctuation in prices, which inflicts heavy losses on traders, amid the fear of renewed aggression and security instability.
Heavy rains and strong winds that flooded the tents also damaged quantities of goods, in addition to losses resulting from power outages and poor cooling. The burden of Ramadan is not limited to the markets only, but extends to the displaced families living in the tents.
Shaima Abu Arabiya (35 years old), a resident of the northern Gaza Strip – Jabalia, and a mother of a boy and two girls, says that she was unable to prepare for Ramadan this year. “We live day by day, today we eat and thank God, and tomorrow we do not know what will happen.”
She points out that high prices in previous years deprived her of her simplest wishes, such as a simple pre-dawn meal containing milk and dates, stressing that they will rely on “takayas” for breakfast, in light of the absence of a source of income, the difficulty of cooking due to the lack of gas, and the impossibility of lighting a fire in the early hours of dawn inside the tents .
Shaima hopes that Ramadan will pass peacefully, without the return of the occupation’s aggression, that prices will improve, and that her husband will be able to work, so that her children can experience the rituals of the holy month and be able to fast .
As for Ayman Khalaf (57 years old), a father of five and a retired employee of the Palestinian Authority, he was forcibly displaced from Rafah to Mawasi Khan Yunis since the beginning of the aggression.
He says he cannot provide for his family’s needs on ordinary days, so how will it be during Ramadan, given the irregular payment of salaries? He added that the salary “was sufficient before the aggression, but today, with the rise in prices, it is no longer able to cover basic needs.”
He points out that this reality has led his family to become almost entirely dependent on food aid and soup kitchen meals, stressing that Ramadan this year “will not change anything in the lives of the people of Gaza, as we have been living with fasting and deprivation for months, and we will add to it religious rituals such as prayer and Taraweeh.”
For his part, economic expert and analyst Maher Al-Tabbaa confirms that the month of Ramadan comes this year after a devastating war that lasted for more than two years, leaving behind unprecedented catastrophic economic and humanitarian conditions, destroying all the foundations of life, and depriving tens of thousands of citizens of shelter .
Al-Tabbaa points out that the war raised unemployment rates to about 80%, and poverty to 100%, with the spread of extreme poverty and child labor, in light of the cessation of education and the complete dependence of the sector’s population on aid. The Palestinian economy also shrank by 86%, which directly affected the purchasing power of citizens .
He adds that the month of Ramadan, which usually witnesses a rise in consumption rates, has become an additional burden on low-income and non-income families, at a time when markets are experiencing a state of recession and stagnation, and a rise in commodity prices that has exceeded 300% in some items compared to pre-war levels, which has led families to limit their spending to necessities only .
This is how the Gaza Strip welcomes the month of Ramadan for the third year after the war, with incomplete tables, markets burdened with losses, and daily anxiety about what is to come, while hope remains that the holy month will bring some reassurance, in a reality that can no longer bear more cruelty.
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M.D./R.H.
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