Ramadan arrives in Gaza this year (2026) for the first time since the ceasefire that came into effect last October. Yet the word “ceasefire” feels painfully detached from reality. The bombs may have slowed, but the wounds remain open. The devastation is vast, the humanitarian catastrophe is over imagination, and daily life continues under the shadow of siege and recurring violations, bombs, and killing. For Palestinians in Gaza, Ramadan is not simply a month of fasting and prayer; it is a test of endurance, faith, and the stubborn will to survive.

Across the Gaza Strip, entire neighborhoods remain flattened and severely damaged, rendering most of the buildings as uninhabitable. Concrete skeletons of homes stand as silent witnesses to a war (a genocide) that took tens of thousands of lives and displaced nearly the entire population. In what used to be bustling streets, families now gather in tents held beside the ruins of their houses. The call to Maghrib prayer echoes not between intact buildings, but over rubble and temporary shelters. This Ramadan is the first after months of unimaginable loss, yet little in the humanitarian situation has meaningfully improved.

READ: Gazans welcome Ramadan with destroyed mosques and weak market activity

The siege continues to suffocate Gaza: Severe shortages of food, fuel, and basic services define daily existence among people in Gaza. Prices of essential goods have surged – some by as much as 300........

© Middle East Monitor