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This year's celebration of Eid-ul-Fitr was dampened by a sense of despair, mostly due to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Gaza. 

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Eid al-Fitr is celebrated at the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which is marked by fasting, prayer, and nighttime gatherings. 

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People in Gaza, where starvation is looming, made do with whatever they could find to celebrate. They held Eid al-Fitr prayers by the ruins of the al-Farouk mosque. Palestinians also visited the graves of their loved ones killed in the Gaza war.

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“It doesn’t feel like Eid because of the lack of a beautiful atmosphere, and we are not buying clothes and sweets, or gathering together like we usually do,” 12-year-old Jana Muhammad Sorour told The Guardian.

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UN Secretary General António Guterres said in a statement, "My heart is broken knowing that in Gaza, Sudan and many other places - because of conflict and hunger — so many Muslims will not be able to celebrate properly."

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The war which started on October 7, has killed thousands of people in Gaza, mostly civilians, and created an acute humanitarian crisis.

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According to UN, an estimated 1.7 million people have been forced to flee their homes and 1.1 million are facing catastrophic hunger.

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