PATERSON, N.J. (Reuters) – Muslim worshippers at the Islamic Center of Passaic County in Paterson, New Jersey, celebrated Eid al-Fitr on Thursday with masks and prayers outdoors, as the conflict between Israel and Gaza cast shadows over the festival marking the end of Ramadan.
“We celebrate this with very, very heavy hearts because our brothers and sisters in Palestine are suffering,” said mortgage broker Zaher Barkawi.
The imam of the mosque, Mohammad Qatanani, urged Israel to “stop all this anguish and oppression against our people in Palestine. It’s critical for people not to live under wars, under anguish and oppression and occupation.”
Four days of violence showed no sign of abating on Thursday after tensions over land ownership in Jerusalem erupted in conflict with Hamas militants in Gaza firing rockets into Israel and the Israeli military responding with air strikes.
At least 87 people have been killed in Gaza, including 18 children, Palestinian medical officials said. In Israel, seven people have been killed, including a soldier patrolling the Gaza border, five civilians, including two children, and an Indian worker, Israeli authorities said.
Eid al-Fitr marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.
(Reporting by Hussein Al Waaile and Roselle Chen; Editing by Dan Grebler and Howard Goller)
