Have coupons become a substitute for Ramadan meals in Gaza

On the first day of Ramadan, the usual festive atmosphere for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip is absent. The month, traditionally associated with decorating homes, baking sweets, and families gathering around lavish tables, arrives for the third consecutive year burdened by war, widespread destruction, and severe shortages of food and aid.

Thousands of Palestinians are observing Ramadan this year in displacement camps after their homes were destroyed by the war.

He points out that the destruction has affected most cities and neighborhoods, forcing families to take refuge in tents lacking even the most basic necessities. He adds that many do not receive aid regularly, especially in marginalized camps far from distribution centers.

The Abu Fadl Junaid family, displaced from the northern Gaza Strip to Deir al-Balah, lives in a tent devoid of basic supplies. The family has lost two sons; one was killed in Israeli prisons after his arrest, and the other in an Israeli airstrike. They have not yet been able to bury either of them.

Abu Fadl’s story is not an exception, but rather an intense picture of thousands of families who have lost their children, their homes, and their livelihoods, and are facing Ramadan this year unable to provide even the minimum of their needs, in light of the scarcity of food and its high prices.

Amid this reality, many residents of the Gaza Strip await what are locally known as “coupons”—food parcels or vouchers distributed by charitable and international organizations during the holy month of Ramadan. Shadi explains that these parcels contain basic food items, and sometimes baskets of vegetables or fruit, and represent the only source of sustenance for many. Citizens line up for hours to receive them, given the decline in purchasing power and the lack of income sources.

The wait for these “coupons”