For the residents of Gaza, Eid al-Adha — the Islamic festival of sacrifice observed by Muslims worldwide to commemorate the willingness of Ibrahim to offer his son to God — has arrived not as a celebration but as a reminder of how much has been lost. In markets in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis, cities in the southern Gaza Strip, residents gathered around livestock that almost no one could afford to buy. A sheep that cost roughly $100 before the conflict between Israel and Hamas began nearly two years ago now fetches anywhere between $8,000 and $10,000, with animal feed scarce and goats seen foraging on rubbish heaps near the city.
The prohibitive cost of sacrificial animals is only one dimension of a broader humanitarian collapse. Families living in tent camps struggle to buy new clothes for their children, a customary part of Eid celebrations. Eilat al-Othmana, a displaced resident, was seen sorting through torn garments for her children, recalling years when relatives gathered, shared meals and distributed meat to neighbours in northern Gaza. Aid agencies have repeatedly warned of deepening food insecurity across the territory, and the mood ahead of the holiday was darkened further when Israeli strikes hit a displacement camp in the al-Mawasi area, west of Khan Younis, killing a woman and a child and wounding twenty others just two days before Eid.
The suffering in Gaza sits within a wider regional picture of conflict and hardship shadowing this year's festival. In Lebanon's south, cross-border hostilities have emptied villages of their festive atmosphere, with displaced families spending a second consecutive Eid away from their homes. In Yemen, years of war and economic deterioration mean that food security — not celebration — is the priority for most households, with new clothes and gifts now considered luxuries. In Sudan, where civil conflict between the national armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces has entered its fourth year, the government in Khartoum went so far as to ban open-air Eid prayers and public gatherings, citing fears of drone attacks.
Rising prices for sacrificial animals have also dampened the mood in more stable parts of the Arab world. In Egypt, markets have seen a notable decline in buyers compared to last year, as higher costs for animal feed, fuel and electricity have pushed prices beyond the reach of many households. Across the region, the shared value of communal solidarity — caring for neighbours and distributing meat to those in need — has taken on added significance precisely because so many are struggling.
Why this matters: Eid al-Adha is one of the most important religious and social occasions in the Muslim calendar, typically marked by communal prayer, the ritual slaughter of livestock and the sharing of food with family, neighbours and the poor. When those traditions become economically or physically impossible, it illuminates the scale of deprivation that prolonged conflict and economic crisis impose on civilian life. For Gaza's displaced population in particular, a second consecutive Eid under wartime conditions underscores the absence of any near-term path to normalcy.