GAZA, (PIC)
The usual joy of celebrating Eid al-Adha is absent this year from the impoverished Gaza Strip, which has been destroyed by the Israeli war of genocide, as its residents are unable to buy new clothes for their children, or purchase sacrificial animals, either because they are unavailable or because they are exorbitantly expensive, while their tents lack the familiar scent of cakes and sweets.
Nadia Abu Shamala, 40 years old, displaced from the northern Gaza Strip to the city of Deir al-Balah in its center, says, “I go out to the market only to watch, and I cannot buy anything, because when I ask about prices, I return broken-hearted.”
She continues in a report by the French Press Agency, “Eid al-Adha arrives this year without any of the features of joy that we used to have in Gaza, given the effects of the war, the exorbitant high prices, and our inability to provide the simplest needs for our children, and therefore joy is non-existent and the atmosphere of Eid is absent.” The truce agreement that entered into force on 10 October 2025 did not put a final end to the Israeli aggression, as at least 871 people have been martyred since the beginning of the truce, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.
Abu Abdullah al-Masdar, 59 years old, from Deir al-Balah, believes that “the truce is a big lie,” but he adds, “we try in all cases to create joy for the children, and I shared with my brother buying the sacrificial sheep for 13,000 shekels (about 4,600 dollars).”
The man, who used to work in real estate, continues, “I know that the price is very expensive, but I decided to sacrifice this year, as there are no manifestations of Eid, but rather it is sad.”
The prices of sheep came as an unpleasant surprise for the residents of the Strip, as Ahmad Abu Salem, 50 years old, from Gaza City, says, “The prices of sacrifices this year are shocking, and we never imagined that the price of one would reach 4,000 or 5,000 dollars, as we have not seen such prices in our entire lives.”
While recalling that “people were keen every year to buy sacrifices,” he adds with heartbreak, “Today we have become unable to even buy one kilogram of meat for our children.” The spokesman for the Ministry of Agriculture in Gaza, Raafat Asaliya, explains that “the prices of sacrifices are witnessing an unprecedented increase during this Eid, due to the complete absence of imports, the death of large numbers of livestock because of the war, and the high costs of breeding, fodder, and transport.”
He adds that “the price of a sheep, which before the war was about 1,000 shekels, now ranges between 11,000 and 15,000 shekels (between 3,900 dollars and 5,300).”
Abu Salem says, “We barely provide daily food, we still live in tents, and prices are sky-high.” He points out that “the price of a clothing set for one child (a shirt and trousers) exceeds 100 dollars,” describing this price as “unreasonable” for him, especially since he is a father of four children.
Siham al-Omari, who is 36 years old and displaced from the northern Gaza Strip to Deir al-Balah as well, agrees with him, as she also misses the joy of Eid and its previous atmospheres, because “the prices of clothes are very high, as the price of trousers and a shirt for a young boy equals the food budget for one week.”
The woman, who lives in a tent, adds, “There is no joy or smell of cakes, as worries overwhelm every home, high prices have exhausted us, and chicken and meat are not available in the markets.”
As for Abu Ahmad Wafi, 42 years old, who is displaced from the east of Khan Yunis city in the south of the Strip to its west, he says that “the markets are full of cakes, maamoul, and sweets, we used to prepare them previously at home, but prices have become very high, and there is no cooking gas even to bake them in the tent.” However, one family managed to prepare a limited quantity of cakes and maamoul in their tent west of Khan Yunis, as the mother and her daughter sat on the ground and placed the circles of cakes on a tray, before a man took over baking them in a clay oven.
But Nadia Abu Shamala, who lives in a tent west of Deir al-Balah, says with heartbreak, “We used to wait for Eid from year to year to eat meat and sacrifice like the rest of the people, but those who used to sacrifice every year are no longer able to buy even a limited amount of meat.”
She adds, “We still live in tents, amidst worries, fear, and fatigue, without any of the features of joy that we knew previously.”
According to the United Nations, about 1.7 million people of the Gaza Strip’s population of 2.2 million people still live in unsuitable displacement camps, in light of the massive destruction caused to their homes.
Also, more than half of the area of the Strip, which amounts to 365 square kilometers, is under military control by the Israeli occupation army.