- Title: Festivities spread across Gaza during Eid al-Fitr
- Date: 4th May 2022
- Summary: GAZA CITY, GAZA (MAY 3, 2022) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF YOUNG GIRL GETTING HER FACE PAINTED FAMILIES AT AMUSEMENT PARK GIRL WITH BUTTERFLY FACE PAINT VARIOUS OF CHILDREN ON RIDES AT AMUSEMENT PARK YOUNG GIRL HAVING HER FACE PAINTED VARIOUS OF CHILDREN ON RIDES AT AMUSEMENT PARK (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) GAZA RESIDENT, MOHAMMAD AL-AKHRAS, SAYING: "We thank God Ramadan ended peacefully, bringing joy to us and the children. Although there were some mild escalations during Ramadan, and we and the children feared that it would further develop and we wouldn't get a joyous Eid, but thank God we got a joyous Eid and things ended peacefully." CHILDREN RUNNING ON THE BEACH / PEOPLE ON THE BEACH CHILDREN SWIMMING IN THE SEA CHILD PLAYING IN THE SAND SANDWICH BOOTH AT THE BEACH VENDOR MAKING SANDWICHES (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SANDWICH VENDOR, MOHAMMAD TOTAH, SAYING: "Today, people still fear an escalation. We were relieved with the end of Corona(virus) and now we are facing the escalation. We ask God the almighty to provide us with a peaceful Eid and to let us enjoy it." KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA (MAY 3, 2022) (REUTERS) INFLATABLE SLIDE ON SIDE OF THE STREET MAN WEARING CLOWN COSTUME ON SLIDE CHILDREN SLIDING DOWN (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) GAZA RESIDENT, QUSAI AWAD, SAYING: "Thank God this year is a hundred times better than last year, last year was war and missiles and the children were scared." VARIOUS OF CHILDREN ON SMALL FERRIS WHEEL
- Embargoed: 18th May 2022 11:53
- Keywords: Celebration Children Eid el-Fitr Festivities Gaza
- Location: GAZA CITY, KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA
- City: GAZA CITY, KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA
- Country: Palestinian Occupied Territory
- Topics: Middle East,Religion/Belief,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA001558803052022RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: With lots of smiles and happy children, highly anticipated festivities spread across the Gaza strip for Eid al-Fitr which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
Families frequented parks and the beach during the holiday and expressed their joy and relief at ending the month of Ramadan peacefully.
"We thank God Ramadan ended peacefully, bringing joy to us and the children. Although there were some mild escalations during Ramadan, and we and the children feared that it would further develop and we wouldn't get a joyous Eid," 33-year-old Gaza resident, Mohammad al-Akhras said.
Confrontations in Jerusalem's Old City - particularly at Al-Aqsa mosque compound, known to Jews as Temple Mount - pose the risk of a relapse into a broader conflagration like last year's 11-day Israel-Gaza war, in which more than 250 Palestinians in Gaza and 13 people in Israel were killed.
Fears of escalation of events are still looming in the air, especially in Gaza, where people are still cautiously recollecting.
"Today, people still fear an escalation. We were relieved with the end of corona(virus) and now we are facing the escalation. We ask God the almighty to provide us with a peaceful Eid and to let us enjoy it," said sandwich vendor Mohammad Totah.
Tensions this year have been heightened in part by the Muslim holy month of Ramadan coinciding with the Jewish celebration of Passover, which sees a rise in the number of Jewish visitors to the compound, revered by Jews as the site of two ancient temples.
Palestinians see such visits as a provocation, at the third holiest site in Islam.
Palestinians want East Jerusalem, including its Muslim, Christian and Jewish holy sites, as the capital of a future state. Israel, which annexed East Jerusalem in a move not internationally recognized after capturing the area in a 1967 war, regards all of Jerusalem as its eternal capital.
(Production: Arafat Barbakh, Bassam Massoud, Mohammad Shana, Mustafa abu Ganyeh, Nuha Sharaf) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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