Israelis accelerate killings in Gaza as genocide survivors mark Eid al-Adha

Israelis revel in desecration — of children, animals, mosques, and faith itself.

The Israelis have been on an accelerated murderous spree against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip during the first day of Eid al-Adha festivities. While traditional Eid rituals involving animal sacrifice, new clothes, and sumptuous delicacies remained a distant dream for the vast majority of genocide survivors in the besieged enclave amidst a crushing Israeli siege and unceasing violence, familiar scenes of shrouded bodies, torn limbs, and children traumatised by the latest bombings played out repeatedly throughout the day.

This is the third straight year that the Israelis have denied the residents of Gaza the opportunity to perform Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam and and a pilgrimage deeply tied to the spiritual significance of Eid al-Adha.

Israel bombed a residential building in the Al-Rimal neighbourhood on the eve of Eid al-Adha, killing six people. Among the martyrs was Mohammed Odeh, the head of Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. Odeh, who was killed alongside his wife and two children, had taken up the reins of Al-Qassam after the martyrdom of his predecessor, Izz al-Din al-Haddad, who had been assassinated with several members of his family in a similar strike on a residential building in the same neighbourhood earlier this month.

Israeli killings of Palestinians continued throughout the day of Eid.

“A 6-year-old child, Menna Abu Labda, was martyred in an IOF airstrike targeting displacement tents in Al-Mawasi,” Resistance New Network reported. “In the same area, a separate airstrike killed a mother and led to the amputation of her one-month-old infant, Muhammad Al-Khatib, while they were in their tent.”

Muhammad Al-Khatib had his left leg amputated after an Israeli strike.

Another Israeli raid in Jabalia in northern Gaza produced horrific but familiar scenes, including that of a young girl running away from the site of the attack while a man collapsed beside her. While children across the world dress in their finest clothes and savour their favourite delicacies on a day meant for celebration, this is what the Israelis, with the full complicity of the world’s governments, have reduced Palestinian children to:

In the most devastating attack of the day, the Israelis slaughtered seven Palestinians, including three women and one child, with a strike on Farah Tower in central Gaza City on the first night of Eid.

More than 20 people were reported injured in the bombing, which reduced the targeted building to a furnace, in scenes to which the Israelis have made us accustomed over the past 30 months of livestreamed, unrelenting barbarism across West Asia:

Israeli violations of the non-existent ceasefire, which came into effect in October last year, have topped 3,000, according to the Gaza Media Office. “These violations have ranged from bombings and direct targeting of civilians to the destruction of entire residential areas, repeated gunfire and incursions into residential zones,” the media office said in a statement on Wednesday.

Under the occupation of the genocidal Israelis, who respect no law and show no regard for the sacred, Gaza’s genocide survivors struggle to find even a semblance of normality on days deeply tied to their identity as Muslims. Buying sacrificial animals has become an unachievable dream, with the prices of sheep rising tenfold: from the typical $300–400 pre-genocide to upwards of $4,000.

Israeli savagery has not spared Gaza’s animals either. According to a November assessment by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the Israelis had killed two-thirds of Gaza’s goats and 80 percent of its sheep during the genocide. “These animals are among the Strip’s last-remaining local sources of fresh milk and meat,” FAO said of the surviving animals.

Since the Israelis have denied the entry of livestock into Gaza during their ongoing blockade of the enclave, Palestinians cannot secure even a kilo of meat without immense financial and physical hardship.

Even providing their children with new clothes has become near-impossible for Gaza’s parents. “I’ve been out since morning looking for clothes for my children, but the prices are shocking,” a mother was quoted as saying by Ultra Palestine. “Even the simplest items are beyond our reach.”

Gaza’s children find a moment of joy on Eid al-Adha.

Under bombardment, blockade, and the constant shadow of death, Gaza’s survivors cling to faith, family, and memory while the world watches their destruction in real time. Meanwhile, the Israelis revel in desecration — of children, animals, mosques, and faith itself.

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