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As the dark approaches declaring the end of a lengthy hot Ramadan day, Palestinian families prepare for their daily pilgrimage to the beach to break their fast and smooth the burdens of a scorching summer heat and a daily electricity outage. “Since the beginning of Ramadan, I and my family have been breaking the fast on the beach of Gaza instead of staying at home amid a hot and humid weather and without electricity,” Allaa Hmeid, a Gaza resident, told Xinhua news agency.
“Having breakfast on the beach better than having it at home in the light of candles,” his wife Fatima added.
The 1.6 million Gazans lose their electricity for up to 8 hours a day during the fasting month of Ramadan.
Gaza’s precarious energy supply is bad at the best of times, with a rickety infrastructure system badly degraded during a deadly Israeli onslaught in 2008.
Israel’s bombardment of Gaza’s power plant destroyed six transformers and at present, only one transformer is operating at a much-reduced capacity.
The situation has been made worse as Ramadan, which started on August 1, came in the summer long hot days.
Amid prevailing unemployment and poverty, the beach was the only low-cost option for many Gazans.
“Going to the beach, spread out a blanket, put our foods and drinks and set on the ground and eat our Ramadan breakfast won’t cost us any money,” Abu Mohamed Jadallah, 68, said.
He noted that the beach of Gaza was the cheapest place to eat at.
“We eat, drink, pray, spend a great time with the family and then when the electric current comes back, we go home to sleep.”
Ramadan is the ninth and holiest month of the Islamic calendar.
Muslims in Ramadan, except for the sick and those traveling, refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sexual intercourse from dawn to dusk.
Fasting is meant to teach Muslims patience, self-control and spirituality, and time during the holy month is dedicated for getting closer to Allah though prayers, reading the Noble Qur\u2019an and good deeds.<\/p>\n