Before the war, the Muslim holy month of Ramadan was a festive time of increased worship, social gatherings and cheer for Fatima Al-Absi. Together with her husband, the resident of Jabalia, in northern Gaza, said, she used to do Ramadan shopping, visit relatives and head to the mosque for prayers.

But the Israel-Hamas war has shredded many of the familiar and cherished threads of Ramadan as Al-Absi once knew it: her husband and a son-in-law have been killed, her home was damaged and burnt and the mosque she attended during Ramadan was destroyed, she said.

“Everything has changed,” she said on Saturday as her family observed the first day of Ramadan. “There’s no husband, no home, no proper food and no proper life.”

This year’s Ramadan comes 16 months into the war in Gaza, sparked on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages. The holy month began on the 42nd and final day of the ceasefire deal’s first phase, with the agreement’s future unclear.

Compared to last Ramadan, many in Gaza found relief in the truce — but there’s also worry and fear about what’s next and grief over the personal and collective losses, the raw wounds and the numerous scars left behind.

“I’ve lost a lot,” said Al-Absi, a 57-year-old grandmother, who’s been reduced to eking out an existence amid the wreckage. “Life is difficult. May God grant us patience and strength,” she added.

The ceasefire agreement’s first phase saw Hamas release 33 women, children, civilian men over 50 and those deemed “humanitarian cases,” in exchange for some 1,900 Palestinian prisoners, including over 270 serving life terms for the murders of dozens of Israelis.

Talks for the second phase began on Thursday, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to commence them on February 3 — day 16 of the first phase — as stipulated by the agreement. The premier’s right-wing flank has threatened to topple the government should Israel proceed to the second phase, which would require the IDF to withdraw from Gaza.

In a statement minutes after the first phase expired, Netanyahu’s office said it supports a US proposal to extend the first phase of the ceasefire in Gaza through Ramadan, which ends March 29, and Passover, which ends April 19, even as Hamas had insisted earlier on negotiating the truce’s second phase.

According to the statement, the US proposal came after White House envoy Steve Witkoff got “the impression that at this stage there was no possibility of bridging the positions of the parties to end the war, and that more time was needed for talks on a permanent ceasefire.”

On Sunday, Israel announced it was cutting off the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza due to Hamas’s refusal to extend the expired initial stage of the ceasefire.

Speaking before the statement was issued, Al-Absi said she’s praying for the war to end and can’t bear any more losses.

“We’re scared because there’s no stability,” she said.

Though Ramadan is still far from normal, some in the Gaza Strip said that, in some ways, it feels better than last year’s.

“We can’t predict what will happen next,” Amal Abu Sariyah, in Gaza City, said before the month’s start. “Yes, the country is destroyed and the situation is very bad, but the feeling that the shelling and the killing… have stopped makes you [feel]that this year is better than the last one.”

Overshadowed by war and displacement, last Ramadan was “very bad” for the Palestinian people, she said. The 2024 Ramadan in Gaza began with ceasefire talks at a standstill, hunger worsening across the Strip and no end in sight to the war.

This year, under the ceasefire, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced at the start of the war returned to northern Gaza. After initial relief and joy at returning to their homes — even if damaged or destroyed — they’ve been grappling with living amid the wreckage.

As Palestinians in the Gaza Strip prepared for Ramadan, shopping for essential household goods and food, some lamented harsh living conditions and economic hardships, but also said they rely on their faith in God to provide for them.

“I used to help people… Today, I can’t help myself,” said Nasser Shoueikh. “My situation, thank God, used to be better and I wasn’t in need for anything… We ask God to stand by us.”

For observant Muslims the world over, Ramadan is a time for fasting daily from dawn to sunset, increased worship, religious reflection, charity and good deeds. Socially, it often brings families and friends together in festive gatherings around meals to break their fast.

Elsewhere in the Gaza Strip, Fatima Barbakh, from the southern city of Khan Younis, said her Ramadan shopping was limited to the essentials.

“We can’t buy lanterns or decorations like we do every Ramadan,” she said.

Back in Jabalia, Al-Absi bitterly described how she used to break her fast with her husband, how much she misses him and how she remembers him when she prays.

“We don’t want war,” she said. “We want peace and safety.”

According to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, more than 48,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far. The toll, which cannot be verified, does not distinguish between civilians and fighters.

Israel says it has killed some 20,000 combatants in battle as of January and another 1,600 terrorists inside Israel on October 7. The IDF has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and accuses Hamas of using Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.