GAZA, (PIC)
Inside a dilapidated tent of only a few meters, set up inside one of the shelter centers in the city of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, Samah Abu Daqqa sits on a piece of cloth spread over the ground, trying to arrange the few remaining belongings of her family in preparation for welcoming Eid al-Adha.
Worn-out blankets hang from the ceiling of the torn tent, with which Abu Daqqa tries to block the summer heat, while empty containers and scattered belongings pile up around her, in a scene that summarizes the lives of thousands of displaced people in the Gaza Strip who lost their homes during the war of genocide launched by Israel on October 8, 2023, and lasted for two years.
On the eve of Eid al-Adha, Abu Daqqa was not busy buying new clothes for her children or preparing to welcome relatives as she used to do in the past, but rather pondering how to provide food for her family members who lost their breadwinner and most of the family members.
During the Israeli war of genocide, more than 22,000 women lost their husbands and became widows, according to a report issued by the United Nations Women entity, in April 2026.
Around 55,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women face acute health risks as a result of the collapse of the health system and malnutrition, according to data from the Government Media Office in Gaza and reports from the United Nations Population Fund.
More than 90 percent of the population of the Gaza Strip have been displaced, some of them several times, and live in overcrowded shelter centers or in the open air, amid the spread of diseases and a severe shortage of water and medicines, according to reports from the United Nations and international relief organizations.
Great loss
Abu Daqqa told the Anadolu correspondent, while she was staring into the emptiness of the tent, “This is the first Eid after the martyrdom of my husband, my brothers, my daughter’s husband, my sisters’ husbands, and my sister’s son. All those who used to fill the house with life and joy have gone.”
She added, “On every Eid, the family used to gather around one table, and visits were continuous, but today no one comes. My daughter became a widow and has two children, and we are all trying to coexist with this great loss.”
In the displacement camps scattered throughout the Gaza Strip, Abu Dakka’s story is repeated thousands of times. Women who lost their husbands, children, or homes, and found themselves responsible for supporting entire families inside tents that lack the most basic necessities of life.
A date for pain
In a neighboring tent, Fathiya Abu Diraz sits among her children, recalling memories of previous Eids that she used to spend with her husband before he was martyred along with members of her family.
Abu Diraz added, “Eid was an occasion for joy and reunion, but now it has become a new date for pain and remembering those we lost. My husband was martyred, and my son passed away before his joy of marriage was completed, and we have nothing left but memories.”
She pointed out, “I do not feel any meaning for Eid. The houses were destroyed, the family was scattered, and the children are waiting for a joy that I cannot provide for them.”
The Palestinian Ministry of Women’s Affairs documented the martyrdom of more than 12,500 women in the Gaza Strip, including more than 9,000 mothers, since the start of the war of genocide on Gaza in October 2023.
A changed life
As for Taghrid Abu Tair, who lost both of her feet as a result of an injury in the war, she told the Anadolu correspondent that “the war changed all the details of life in Gaza, including the Eids.”
Abu Tair added while sitting in a wheelchair, “This is not an Eid as we knew it. There is displacement, hunger, siege, and constant fear. People are busy securing a living more than thinking about celebrating.”
Their situation is not much different for Jamalat Abu Musabbeh, who is the wife of a martyr and a mother of five children, trying to console her children who ask about Eid clothes and their absent father.
Abu Musabbeh told the Anadolu correspondent, “There are no sacrificial animals, no new clothes, and not even enough food. I try to draw a smile on the faces of my children, but they miss their father and everything he used to give them in terms of safety and joy.”
Israel has been besieging the Gaza Strip since 2007, and about 1.5 million Palestinians out of about 2.4 million in the Strip became homeless after the war of genocide destroyed their homes.
A ceasefire agreement was reached following two years of a genocide started by Israel on October 8, 2023, with American support, leaving more than 72,000 dead and more than 172,000 wounded Palestinians.
Despite the agreement signed in October 2025, Israel continues the genocide with a daily siege and bombardment that results in dead and wounded, and also prevents the entry of sufficient quantities of food, medicine, medical supplies, shelter materials, and prepared houses into Gaza, where about 2.4 million Palestinians live, including 1.5 million displaced persons, in catastrophic conditions.