RELIGION-EID/GAZA PREPS Gazans prepare for Eid, struggling to shake off war trauma

Record ID: 146438

  • Title: RELIGION-EID/GAZA PREPS Gazans prepare for Eid, struggling to shake off war trauma
  • Date: 16th July 2015
  • Summary: KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA (JULY 15, 2015) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF HOUSE DAMAGED IN LAST YEAR'S WAR VARIOUS OF WOMEN PREPARING EID SAVOURY BISCUITS VARIOUS OF GAZA RESIDENT, SUMAYYA RADWAN, PREPARING SAVOURY BISCUITS EID SAVOURIES ON PLATES (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) KHAN YOUNIS RESIDENT, SUMAYYA RADWAN, SAYING: "Last year, we were [living] in the schools. And when people were saying the E
  • Embargoed: 31st July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Gaza
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA5NIB8T4WRCC6TZWVUI5SFHCS1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Sumayya Radwan's home in Khan Younis in Gaza still bears the signs of destruction from last summer's war with Israel.
    Just over a year after the conflict, Palestinians are trying to put the memories of the siege behind them, as they prepare for Eid on the weekend.
    Women had gathered in Radwan's house to prepare savoury biscuits for the festival.
    Radwan says despite the recent past, Eid will be better this year.
    "Last year we were [living] in the schools. And when people were praying the Eid prayers we were putting our hands [on our cheeks] and crying, because we were homeless and our homes were damaged in the war, (we were mourning) the martyrs and all the people who died. We were unable to do anything about it. But this year, we are hopeful, but we are not very happy," she said.
    Her house is one of the estimated 100,000 homes that were damaged or destroyed in the war. One year on, not a single house has been rebuilt.
    The 50-day war between Palestinian group Hamas and Israel killed more than 2,100 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 73 Israelis.
    Israel had launched an air and ground assault to put an end to constant rocket fire by Hamas militants from Gaza.
    Fathi Kamel's home, too, was reduced to rubble. But he said he is determined to move on.
    "We will celebrate Eid with each other but with sorrow because last year we lost many martyrs from Khuzaa town, and we didn't celebrate Eid in Khuzaa. But despite the Israeli occupation, we will celebrate this Eid in Khuzaa," Kamel said.
    Since the end of the war, the flow of reconstruction materials into the territory has been greatly restricted, with Israel insisting on tight monitoring of all imports of cement, iron and other materials that could be employed by Hamas to rebuild secret tunnels that were used to attack Israel.
    So slow has the influx of goods been that the United Nations recently said it could take 30 years to rebuild the damage.
    In Gaza City, the markets were abuzz with people doing last-minute shopping. But many people here are on a tight budget.
    "There are many products but we don't have money to do shopping. Products are on display, as you see here, everything is just being displayed. People don't have money to buy. I got these with credit because I don't have the money," Mohammad al-Rifi said.
    "There are preparations (for Eid) but still we are under siege, people still suffering from the not receiving their salaries. It is not a good life at all," said Hasan al-Sawafiri.
    Last month, the International Monetary Fund described Gaza's economy as being on the verge of collapse, with unemployment nearing 45 percent, GDP down 15 percent in 2014 and the once-strong manufacturing sector dying.
    Of the 1.8 million people who live in Gaza - a population growing by 50,000 a year - nearly two-thirds are dependent on aid in some form or another.
    It is the United Nation's longest-running relief operation, set up in 1949.
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