The Palestinians are preparing to receive the holy month of Ramadan, which is scheduled to begin tomorrow, Thursday, amid hopes of restoring calm in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank , in light of the state of tension with Israel.

Over the past few days, the residents of the Gaza Strip, numbering more than two million people, have been decorating their homes and the surrounding narrow alleys, main streets and shops with colored lights and lanterns to welcome the holy month.

Rana Ahmed (28 years), a mother of three children from Gaza City, is one of the women who spent many days buying colorful decorations, lanterns and foodstuffs before the month of Ramadan in an attempt to create a beautiful atmosphere for her family members.

"For many years, the residents of the Strip have been deprived of such a festive atmosphere during the month of Ramadan because of the repeated wars with Israel and the bitter economic reality," says Rana, while she was wandering in the alleys of the ancient Zawiya market in the city center.

Rana, who had been complaining for many years about her poor economic condition, added, "My family has lived through bad conditions in the past years, and I was unable to prepare for Ramadan because my husband was unemployed."

And the woman continues, while it seemed well-off that her economic conditions improved after her husband got a job opportunity in Israel several months ago, which allowed her to save money to purchase the needs of the month of Ramadan.

In 2019, the Israeli authorities allowed the residents of the Strip to submit job applications in Israel for the first time, and the total number of permits granted to them since that time amounted to more than 15,000 permits, which is of economic benefit to the Strip.

Since 2007, Israel has imposed a tight siege on the coastal strip, after it was seized by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) by force. Since then, the economic situation in the strip has deteriorated, as its residents live in difficult living conditions.

Rana, who hopes that the month of Ramadan will pass calmly and reassuringly, believes that peace and indirect understandings between Hamas and Israel have allowed families in the Strip to celebrate the month of Ramadan according to their traditions.

Al-Aqsa Square witnessed in April of last year, coinciding with the month of Ramadan and the Jewish Passover, violent clashes between Palestinian worshipers and the Israeli police forces, against the backdrop of the Jews' visit to the mosque, which resulted in the injury of dozens of Palestinian worshipers, which was met by a threat from the Palestinian armed factions to "not be silent."

In May 2021, during the month of Ramadan, the city of Jerusalem witnessed tensions between the Palestinians and the Israeli police against the background of the eviction of Palestinian families from their homes in favor of Jewish associations, which resulted in military tension between Israel and the Palestinian armed factions in Gaza that lasted for 11 days and was described as the “most violent” since 2014. .

Despite this, happiness appeared on the face of Muhammad Jarada, the owner of a shop of children's toys and lanterns of various sizes in the middle of the Zawiya market, after he was able to sell most of his goods before the month of Ramadan.

He told Xinhua that in the past years, merchants worked hard to sell their goods accumulated in warehouses due to the security and economic conditions, but this year the matter seems different.

Jarada hopes that all military actions between the Gaza Strip and Israel will stop so that the local population can live in peace and security during the holy month of Ramadan and the rest of the year.

On the other hand, the atmosphere in the camps, towns, villages and cities of the West Bank seemed almost sad, mourning the dozens of Palestinian deaths as a result of the escalating wave of tension with the Israelis since the beginning of this year.

As a result, Wael Al-Saadi (45 years), who resides in the city of Ramallah, contented himself with buying foodstuffs for his family members in preparation for the month of Ramadan, without the usual decorations and colored lanterns for the first time in his life.

Al-Saadi, a father of four, told Xinhua, "Unfortunately, sadness prevails in all regions, as dozens of families lost their relatives who were killed or arrested by the Israeli forces."

Al-Saadi added that the situation in the West Bank "is very bad due to the Israeli forces' storming of the areas and the accompanying killing of young men. Therefore, people can hardly celebrate the advent of the month of Ramadan in solidarity with the families of the victims."

And close to him, Salem Al-Rifai, a vendor from Ramallah, blamed the Israeli measures and practices for slowing down the markets to prepare for the month of Ramadan, saying that the Palestinian people urgently need to restore their "normal life and stop military tensions."

Tensions have escalated between Palestinians and Israelis in the West Bank, resulting in the killing of 89 Palestinians by Israeli bullets since the beginning of this year, compared to 15 people killed in Israel as a result of Palestinian attacks, according to official Palestinian and Israeli statistics.