GAZA CITY, Palestine

Inside a shelter in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, Palestinian women are preparing Kaak, traditional Eid cookies, in hopes of lifting their children’s spirits, despite the ongoing Israeli military offensive that resumed on March 18, 2025.

Amid deep grief, destruction, and the loss of homes and loved ones, the women are working to provide their children with even the smallest moments of joy, trying to shield them from the hardship caused by Israel’s continued closure of border crossings.

This year, Eid al-Fitr, a festival of breaking the fast at the end of the holy month of Ramadan, arrives in Gaza under severe humanitarian and economic strain, as Israeli attacks intensify.

Eid al-Fitr is the first of the two main festivals in Islam, the other being Eid al-Adha.

Since March 2, 2025, Israel has enforced a full blockade on the Gaza Strip by shutting all crossings and preventing the entry of humanitarian, medical, and relief aid.

Markets are nearly empty, and the cost of remaining goods has surged, making it nearly impossible for Palestinians, impoverished by the war, to meet basic needs.

Last week, the Gaza Government Media Office said the territory has entered the first phase of famine due to the continued blockade and the obstruction of life-saving aid.

Determination to live

In a display of resilience, Kawthar Hussein sits beside an earthen oven in the corner of the shelter, trying to ignite a fire to bake Eid cookies while Israeli artillery shells nearby areas of the Gaza Strip.

With no access to cooking gas because of the blockade, the women are using cardboard and wood to cook, a process that is both time-consuming and exhausting.

Ignoring the smoke, Hussein carefully places cookies on trays to begin baking.

She said: "The atmosphere here is very sad. We have lost many relatives and loved ones, and we are suffering from a major humanitarian crisis."

“We are a people who love life. We don't want our children to live in deprivation. We try to provide them with everything we can, even if it's little,” she told Anadolu.

Before the war, she would prepare about 9 kilograms (19.8 pounds) of cookies during Eid. This year, she is making only one kilogram (2.2 pounds), hoping to bring some comfort to children affected by the war.

Although grief surrounds them, she believes celebrating Eid remains one of "God’s rituals that should be revived."

Joy amid war

Umm Mohammed, another Palestinian woman, is also trying to give her children and grandchildren a sense of Eid by making cookies for them.

She told Anadolu: "We managed to make a little bit of cookies to compensate the children for what they have lost from the Eid rituals during the genocide."

“Sadness surrounds the children. We try to make them happy by giving them one cookie each, and that is all we can provide,” she added.

On March 18, the Israeli army launched a surprise aerial attack on Gaza, killing 896 people and injuring nearly 2,000, effectively ending the ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement.

Since October 2023, Israeli attacks have killed more than 50,200 Palestinians — mostly women and children — and injured over 114,000, according to health authorities.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel is also facing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice over its war on the enclave.