Pastry maker Rafe’ Rummaneh, proven right here in his residence outdoors Ramallah within the occupied West Bank on April 9, is barely making a number of treats for buddies this Eid.

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Pastry maker Rafe’ Rummaneh, proven right here in his residence outdoors Ramallah within the occupied West Bank on April 9, is barely making a number of treats for buddies this Eid.

Catie Dull/NPR

RAMALLAH, Occupied West Bank — Rafe’ Rummaneh is roofed in flour. He sifts cups of it over circles of dough after which flattens them with a rolling pin.

It’s step one in making the multilayered pastries he is grow to be well-known for within the Al-Am’ari refugee camp in Ramallah. The final step is pouring syrup over a tray of the golden pudding-filled pastries simply out of the oven, filling his store with a sweet-tasting steam.

Palestinians right here within the West Bank sometimes line as much as purchase these treats to rejoice Eid, the conclusion of the month-long dawn-to-sunset fasting of Ramadan. But this 12 months, there isn’t any line out the door and barely any pastries. This is likely one of the solely batches he is making, a pistachio-laced gesture for a number of buddies.

Rafe’ Rummaneh prepares desserts at his bakery the Al-Am’ari refugee camp in Ramallah on April 9.

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Rafe’ Rummaneh prepares desserts at his bakery the Al-Am’ari refugee camp in Ramallah on April 9.

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Some of the desserts Rummaneh prepares at his bakery the Al-Am’ari refugee camp in Ramallah.

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Some of the desserts Rummaneh prepares at his bakery the Al-Am’ari refugee camp in Ramallah.

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Rafe’ Rummaneh prepares sweets at his bakery, April 9.

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Rafe’ Rummaneh prepares sweets at his bakery, April 9.

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“This year, we are limiting Eid to just religious and ritualistic activities,” says Rummaneh. “My family won’t eat sweets like these. It’s the smallest gesture we can offer our people in Gaza who are being killed and whose homes have been destroyed. How can we possibly celebrate?”

Next door on the camp’s ironmongery shop, proprietor Younis Abu Murad is in no temper to rejoice both.

“Last night, Israeli soldiers came to our camp and arrested one person,” he says. “They don’t knock. You could be sleeping in bed, and they don’t even wait for you to get dressed. They don’t want anyone here or in Gaza to feel comfortable.”

In previous years, many Palestinians within the West Bank celebrated Eid by passing by Israeli checkpoints to the Mediterranean coast to benefit from the seaside. This 12 months, safety is tight and hardly anybody is allowed to cross into Israel.

Instead, Israel’s navy has stepped up early morning raids in West Bank camps like Al-Am’ari, searching for militants.

Al-Am’ari refugee camp in Ramallah on April 9. Israel’s navy has stepped up early-morning raids in West Bank refugee camps like Al-Am’ari, searching for militants.

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Al-Am’ari refugee camp in Ramallah on April 9. Israel’s navy has stepped up early-morning raids in West Bank refugee camps like Al-Am’ari, searching for militants.

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Israeli troops “don’t want anyone here or in Gaza to feel comfortable,” says Younis Abu Murad, sitting outdoors his {hardware} store within the Al-Am’ari refugee camp in Ramallah on April 9.

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Israeli troops “don’t want anyone here or in Gaza to feel comfortable,” says Younis Abu Murad, sitting outdoors his {hardware} store within the Al-Am’ari refugee camp in Ramallah on April 9.

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An indication within the Al-Amari camp in Ramallah commemorates victims of a Nov. 9 raid on the camp.

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An indication within the Al-Amari camp in Ramallah commemorates victims of a Nov. 9 raid on the camp.

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One of Abu Murad’s clients, Nidal Qatari, says her nephew Mohammed Al-Qatari was shot within the head and killed in considered one of these raids, and her grandson was left with bullet wounds in each legs. Israel’s navy confirmed the dying with NPR, however did not present particulars of the incident.

“What kind of Eid are we going to celebrate when we see our children being killed and when we see destroyed homes in Gaza?” she asks. “How can we eat? We’re crying over all of this.”

Eid this 12 months in Gaza is noticed amid ruins, with little meals

In the Gaza Strip, on the primary morning of Eid, males prayed in unison to mark the beginning of the vacation. They prostrated themselves on blue tarps beside the rubble of Rafah’s Al-Farooq Mosque, destroyed in an Israeli airstrike. Massive cylindrical sections of what was its minaret lie topsy-turvy on its stays.

Worshiper Hani Al-Imam says in previous years, he would get up and pray in his greatest garments.

“But now we are forced to wear these displacement clothes we’ve worn for weeks,” he says. “And we try to encourage the children to be happy with Eid despite all of this destruction.”

Children restlessly climb and play atop the rubble as males pray beneath. For the youngsters, the dearth of celebration on this present day is hardest. Some are sporting their greatest clothes, however no sneakers or boots on their toes.

Many in Rafah have been holding out hope that Eid would convey a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, however one hasn’t materialized.

In the West Bank, Eid is somber too

In the Al-Am’ari refugee camp, 77-year-old Younis Taha chats with two buddies in regards to the information of the day from Gaza.

“This year for Eid,” says Taha, “I’m only offering bitter coffee without sugar. That’s what we drink when somebody dies.”

Taha was born in what’s now Israel — within the village of Dayr Tarif — however his household was amongst these compelled to flee to the West Bank in 1948. Millions of Palestinians at the moment are displaced from their Gaza properties, and Taha says he is aware of how that feels.

Baker Rafe’ Rummaneh prays in his residence outdoors Ramallah within the occupied West Bank on April 9.

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Baker Rafe’ Rummaneh prays in his residence outdoors Ramallah within the occupied West Bank on April 9.

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Rummaneh, the baker, says he, too, feels weak in his residence. After 40 years of constructing pastries, he constructed his home and not using a allow on land administered by Israel, and it could possibly be taken from him anytime.

His terrace overlooks town of Ramallah, and noon prayer echoes from a close-by mosque.

Rummaneh faces Mecca and prostrates himself, eyes closed. A growth outdoors at first appears like an explosion, however it’s the beginning of a spring thunderstorm. Inside the consolation of his residence, it is dry and quiet: a somber begin to Eid.

Rummaneh prays for his household, his buddies and for Gaza.

Nuha Musleh contributed to this report from Ramallah. Anas Baba contributed from Rafah, Gaza Strip.