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Gaza

Eid begins, but not necessarily with a celebratory atmosphere

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By Euronews  with Reuters
Eid begins, but not necessarily with a celebratory atmosphere

Eid-al-Fitr has begun. The Muslim celebration marking the end of Ramadan begins with the start of the lunar month of Shawwal and traditionally lasts three days.

Gaza

The festival begins with prayer, which was led in Gaza by Khaled Mashal, the leader of the Hamas Islamist group.

Worshippers congregated in an area devastated during 50 days of fighting last summer.

The conflict killed almost 2,300 people and damaged around 100,000 buildings and structures. Many residents in damaged neighbourhoods continue to live among the debris.

Jordan

At a Jordanian camp for Syrian refugees, the mood was sombre.

Mohammed al-Hiraki arrived in Jordan in January 2013. He is one of more than four million Syrians to have fled their homeland as a result of the civil war.

He spoke of his nostalgia for his home nation.

“We feel that during this Eid, we are very far from our children. Far from our children, far from our country,” he said.

Cairo

But in the Egyptian capital there seemed to be a more celebratory spirit at the start of Eid. The festival is traditionally a time for family gatherings and the exchange of gifts.