As the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan began in Gaza on Wednesday, Palestinians headed to the shattered ruins of mosques or to makeshift prayer spaces made of tarpaulins and wood, mourning their dead and their lost places of worship.

In Gaza City, the dome of the now destroyed Al Hassaina mosque rests on top of a pile of rubble. Its former courtyard, where worshippers once gathered and today families sleep and cook among the ruins, is crisscrossed with washing lines.

“I can’t bear to look at it,” said Sami Al Hissi, 61, a volunteer at the mosque in Gaza City, standing on rubble where rows of worshippers once stood shoulder to shoulder in prayer.

“We used to pray comfortably. We used to see our friends, our loved ones. Now there are no loved ones, no friends, and no mosque,” he said.

Children clamber over the cracked domes and women collect laundry hung between broken columns.

Al Hissi said the mosque had drawn worshippers from other neighborhoods including Shejaia and Daraj during Ramadan.

“It would be filled with thousands,” he said. “But now, where are they supposed to pray? It’s all rubble and destruction. There’s barely enough space for a hundred people.”

Israel launched its air and ground war in Gaza after a Hamas-led cross-border attack on October 7, 2023 that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s assault has killed 72,000 Palestinians, health authorities say.

The Hamas-run Gaza government media office says Israeli forces have completely destroyed 835 mosques and partially damaged 180. It added Israel has targeted churches in attacks on multiple occasions, and destroyed 40 of Gaza’s 60 cemeteries.

Israel says it targets militant infrastructure and accuses Palestinian armed groups of operating in civilian areas, including mosques, an allegation Hamas denies.

‘Pray in Tents’

For many residents, the loss is both spiritual and communal.

“We wished we could welcome Ramadan in a different atmosphere,” said Khitam Jabr, displaced and now staying at the mosque.

“We don’t have enough mosques. All of the mosques were destroyed and there’s nowhere to pray. Now we pray in tents, and the mosques became centers for the displaced,” she added.

Despite the devastation and severe shortages of materials, people are attempting to rebuild small sections of mosques and set up makeshift prayer spaces using reused plastic sheeting and wood, said Amir Abu Al-Amrain, director of the religious affairs ministry in Gaza City.

“Four hundred and thirty prayer areas have been rebuilt, some using plastic sheets from greenhouses, some made of wood, and some constructed with plastic sheets from tents,” he said.

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(Writing by Tala RamadanEditing by Alexandra Hudson)