Bags of fragrant spices, crates of dates, frozen chicken and fresh produce. Food and other goods that were scarce during the war have returned to the shops and street markets of Gaza in time for the holy fasting month of Ramadan. And the Israeli bombs have fallen silent.
But the shadow of the war hangs heavy over what was once one of the most joyous seasons in the territory, and life in Gaza has not even begun to return to normal. Street vendors have refrained from playing the special songs they normally would during Ramadan and even if there is more food in the shops, many struggle to afford it.
The first phase of a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas has lasted a month and a half, but it was set to elapse on Saturday, which coincides with the first day of Ramadan fasting from dawn to dusk. It could be extended but so far, there has been little progress toward doing so.
Maisa Arafa, 29, who said that her brother had been killed during the war, has been living in a tent with other relatives as they clear away rubble from their devastated home in northern Gaza in hopes of moving into one room that is still intact.
“More than anything, I wish my brother could come back. That would be the only thing to make Ramadan feel like it used to,” Ms. Arafa said as she shopped in downtown Gaza City. “This is not the Ramadan we knew, or even the life we knew.”
Before the war, Ramadan was one of the most joyful festivals in Gaza. Crowds flocked to the mosques, and streets were festooned with colorful lanterns typical of the Ramadan period.
But an enormous gap stretches between the happy holiday memories of a seemingly irrecoverable past and the desolation and grief left by the 15-month war in Gaza. Many Palestinians in the territory see little to celebrate.
Since the Israel-Hamas cease-fire went into effect in mid-January, hundreds of truckloads per day of food and other supplies have been entering Gaza, offering a degree of relief from the intense hunger many suffered during the war. The constant bombardment that haunted civilians’ lives every day for more than a year has ceased.
Farah Irshi, 21, described how the previous Ramadan felt during the fighting between Israel and Hamas. There was little food and about 25 displaced people crowded into their home amid constant bombardment, she said.
“Now there’s more food in the local market as more aid seems to be entering Gaza, but people, including us, have no money at all,” she lamented. “So it’s as if there isn’t anything in the markets, anyway.”
Abdelhalim Awad, who oversees a bakery and supermarket in central Gaza, said that prices had dropped since the worst days of the war, when a 55-pound sack of flour could cost hundreds of dollars.
Many goods — like frozen chicken and cooking gas — are now in shops and street markets, although others, like chocolate, are still scarce, he said. But they are still expensive and many people already burned through their savings during the war to buy hard-to-find, overpriced food.
“The goods are now available, but people are still only able to buy what they really need,” Mr. Awad said as he watched holiday shoppers come and go, buying what they could for communal meals to break the fast at night.
The war began after the Hamas-led assault on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killed about 1,200 people and saw some 250 others taken back to Gaza as hostages. The subsequent Israeli military campaign laid waste to large swaths of the Gaza Strip.
Many residents are still displaced or have returned to their homes only to find them ruined by the fighting. Some have returned to the camps for the displaced where they spent much of the last year, while others have pitched tents on the rubble where their houses once stood.
The Israeli campaign killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, including thousands of children, according to local health officials who do not distinguish between civilians and combatants. The Israeli military said it had “eliminated” nearly 20,000 Hamas operatives, without providing detailed evidence to back up that claim.
This week, Gazans walked through local markets in central and northern Gaza, looking for whatever they could afford. One vendor showcased heaps of green and black olives, piles of dates and other goods.
Muhanned Hamad, an accountant from Gaza City, stood in front of a toy vendor’s stall in what was historically a major downtown market. He said he was looking for a holiday lantern to give to his neighbors, a mother and son who had lost their immediate family during the war.
“This Ramadan is nothing like the ones before,” said Mr. Hamad, 39. “The war has drained it of meaning, he added. “Even with the cease-fire, nothing here feels worthy of celebration.”
Ameera Haroudacontributed reporting.
