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GAZA — With no end to fighting in sight, Palestinians in Gaza began fasting for the holy month of Ramadan on Monday as hunger worsens across the strip and pressure grows on Israel over the growing humanitarian crisis.
The United States, Qatar and Egypt had hoped to broker a cease-fire ahead of the normally joyous month of dawn-to-dusk fasting that would include the release of dozens of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, and the entry of a large amount of humanitarian aid, but the talks stalled last week.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 hostage. Hamas is still believed to be holding around 100 captives.
The war has driven around 80% of Gaza's population of 2.3 million people from their homes and pushed hundreds of thousands to the brink of famine. Gaza's Health Ministry said that at least 31,112 Palestinians have been killed since the war began. The ministry doesn't differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count, but says that women and children make up two-thirds of the dead.
The United Nations chief is urging Israel and Hamas to honor the spirit of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan by "silencing the guns" and to show compassion by releasing all hostages seized by the militant group during its attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters that Monday marks the start of Ramadan when "Muslims around the world celebrate and spread the values of peace, reconciliation and solidarity."
Yet, in Gaza, "the killing, bombing and bloodshed continue," he said, with civilian killings and destruction in the territory "at a level that is unprecedented" in his more than seven years as secretary-general.
He warned that Israel's threatened assault on the southern city of Rafah where over a million Palestinians have sought safety "could plummet the people of Gaza into an even deeper circle of hell."
Guterres said lifesaving humanitarian assistance is only entering Gaza "in trickles," and in the Ramadan spirit he also called for the removal of all obstacles so food and other aid can be delivered with speed and on a massive scale.
"The eyes of the world are watching. The eyes of history are watching. We cannot look away," said the U.N. chief, who has been calling for a humanitarian cease-fire for months. "We must act to avoid more preventable deaths. … Desperate civilians need action – immediate action."
Ramadan begins
Hundreds of Palestinians attended prayers at a major Jerusalem holy site on the first day of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
The congregation at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound on midday Monday was far smaller than in previous years. At some entrances, Israeli forces could be seen turning some worshippers away, citing unspecified security concerns. At one entrance, however, worshippers could be seen filing through without being stopped.
The compound is the third holiest site in Islam. It is built on a hilltop that is the holiest site for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount because it was the location of the two Jewish temples in antiquity.
The site has long been a major flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Tensions have soared in recent years as Israel has allowed increasing numbers of Jews to visit the compound. That has stoked Palestinian fears that Israel intends to take over or partition it.
Israel's government, which includes prominent religious ultranationalists, denies having any such plans. Israeli authorities have said they will allow normal access to Muslim worshippers this year, even as war raging in Gaza threatens to spill over across the region.
Hamas has called on Palestinians to confront Israeli forces during Ramadan, the holy month of dawn-to-dusk fasting.
Military commander censured
The Israeli military says it has censured a top commander over the bombing of a university in Gaza.
The military says Brig. Gen. Barak Hiram, the commander of the 99th Division, was rebuked for the January blast, which according to Al-Israa University destroyed buildings for graduate studies and bachelor's colleges at its main campus outside Gaza City.
The military said Monday that an inquiry showed Hamas was using the buildings and their surroundings for military purposes but that Hiram did not receive proper approval to carry out the blast.
The university said at the time of the demolition that Israeli forces had occupied the campus for over two months and had used it as a base of operations.
Hiram's censure, which amounts to a notch in his file in the military, is a rare case of Israel reprimanding its forces for their conduct during the war in Gaza.
Hiram was also criticized when he ordered a tank to fire at a house where militants were holding hostages during Hamas' Oct. 7, attack on southern Israel. The fire may have killed some of the hostages, according to their families. The military said commanders had to make difficult decisions in a complex battlefield that day, and that it would investigate the incident.
