Israeli strikes and mass evacuation have disrupted peaceful forms of worship for Muslim families in Lebanon, according to an aid worker, as many try to observe the Islamic holy month of Ramadan – when people abstain from food and water from sunrise to sunset.
Palestinian refugees staying at a makeshift shelter in the town of Sebline, in southern Lebanon, including pregnant women and new mothers, spoke of “fear,” “confusion” and “panic,” a midwife working there with the UK-based NGO Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) said.
“Some women told us they were preparing for suhoor (the meal eaten before dawn and the start of the fast) when warning sirens sounded, forcing them to leave immediately,” Ola, the midwife, said in testimony shared with CNN by MAP.
“They had no time to take anything with them,” she added. “Others said they had been preparing iftar (the breaking of the fast at sunset) when a strike took place nearby.”
The Israeli military campaign in Lebanon has killed hundreds of people, triggered mass displacement, depleted the healthcare system and exacerbated the country’s economic crisis.
Many people have tried to seek safety in improvised shelters, mosques, community halls and unfinished buildings, according to the UN. At least 773 people have been killed since March 2, including 103 children, according to the Lebanese health ministry.
Further south, in Burj Shemali refugee camp, an unnamed Palestinian mother warned that “rising prices are making it increasingly difficult to afford food.” “We are fasting during Ramadan while struggling to meet our basic needs,” she said, in testimony shared with CNN by MAP.