Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice, is one of the most significant holidays on the Islamic calendar. It commemorates the Prophet Ibrahim's (or Abraham's) willingness to sacrifice his son in obedience to God. The holiday is marked by special prayers, family gatherings, charitable giving and the sacrifice of livestock. 

The celebration always falls on the 10th day of Dhul Hijjah, the final month of the Islamic calendar. This year, Saudi authorities announced that Eid al-Adha would begin at sunset on June 5. Muslims not performing the Hajj pilgrimage typically begin celebrations the following day, June 6. The exact start date can vary slightly depending on the moon sighting in different countries. 

Lebanon, Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, Jordan and Iraq 

For Lebanon, the holiday began just hours after an Israeli military strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut on Thursday, which the Israeli military said targeted facilities used by Hezbollah “for the production and storage” of drones. There have been no reports of casualties. Photos of the aftermath show rubble and smoke in residential neighborhoods.   

Men hold a ladder for a man attempting to repair a cable by the rubble of a collapsed building, at the site of an overnight Israeli airstrike in the Hadath neighborhood of Beirut's southern suburbs, on June 6, 2025. (Photo by IBRAHIM AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

In Gaza, Eid al-Adha unfolds under the shadow of a deepening humanitarian crisis. Since late May, aid distribution centers operated by the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation have been scenes of deadly chaos. Crowds of Palestinians seeking food have been met with gunfire, resulting in over 100 deaths and hundreds of injuries, according to Gaza’s Government Media Office.  

The Israeli military claims that it fired warning shots at individuals approaching its forces and has dismissed reports of the incidents as “exaggerated.”  

Muslim worshippers attend the early morning prayers for Eid al-Adha in the makeshift prayer room of Nour Mosque, in the Abu Amin neighborhood in northeastern Gaza City, on June 6, 2025. (Photo by BASHAR TALEB/AFP via Getty........

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