KHARTOUM/GAZA, June 6 (Xinhua) -- The scent of roasted lamb drifts through the air, children put on new clothes, and streets pulse with laughter and light.
Yet in war-torn Gaza and Sudan, the fading memories of Eid al-Adha have yet to return.
This year, the festival dawns beneath a heavy veil of loss, economic hardship, displacement, and the quiet ache of hunger.
In southern Khartoum, Sudan's capital, 61-year-old Essam al-Din Mukhtar spent more than six hours roaming the dusty livestock market on Al-Hawa Street with his 16-year-old son, searching for a sheep he could afford.
"I haven't received a salary in two years," said the father of eight, who lost his job when fighting shut his workplace down in April 2023. "This year, I wanted to buy a sacrificial sheep for my family... but the cheapest ones cost more than we can manage," which is priced at 750,000 Sudanese pounds (one U.S. dollar trades at about 2,700 pounds on the parallel market).
This is Sudan's third Eid al-Adha since civil war erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, displacing millions and devastating the economy. Once-vibrant markets now sit quiet, where flies circle unsold livestock and vendors sigh at the lack of buyers.
"Most just ask about prices without making purchases," said Ibrahim Mohamed Al-Toum, a livestock trader who paid nearly 10 times more to transport sheep this year due to war-related risks and road closures.
"I brought sheep from North Kordofan to Khartoum, a trip that used to take two days now takes over a week," Al-Toum told Xinhua. "Before the war, transporting livestock cost around 700,000 Sudanese pounds. This year, it's nearly 7 million."
More than 2,500 km away, in a tent on the outskirts of Gaza's Deir al-Balah city, 41-year-old Amina Jabr tries to console her three children. Their home in Gaza City's al-Zeitoun neighborhood was destroyed months ago in an Israeli airstrike.
"Before the war, we baked sweets and bought new clothes," she said. "Now we have only lentils and no clean water. My children no longer ask about the Eid celebration... They ask for bread."
According to the Gaza-based health authorities on Thursday, at least 54,677 people have been killed since the beginning of the conflict in October 2023. The UN reports have shown that close to 2 million Palestinians have been displaced.
"I lost everything, my house, shop," said Mustafa al-Sarraj, a former barber from al-Nuseirat refugee camp. Sitting where his house used to be, the 66-year-old Palestinian man said, "We used to distribute meat to neighbors. Today, we wait for handouts, maybe a loaf of bread, maybe nothing."
The traditional symbolism of Eid -- the act of sacrificing a sheep to honor Abraham's devotion -- has become painfully ironic in both places. In Gaza, schoolteacher Rana al-Mahdi said her students no longer write about joy. "They write about destruction and fear," she said, adding, "If bombs haven't killed them, they're starving."
"People have different priorities now," said Abdulsalam Taha, 45, in Khartoum. "For most, it's just food and shelter."
Despite the hardship, flickers of resilience remain. In southern Khartoum, vendors are returning to local markets, selling vegetables, barbecue tools, and stoves. "Things are getting better," said Imad Awad, recently returned from exile in Egypt. "We still don't have electricity, but I'm celebrating Eid in my home, with my family."
In Gaza, Jabr's hope is quieter, more elemental. "We just want to be safe, to drink clean water, and to sleep without fearing airstrikes," she said. "Eid is a time to remind the world that we are still here, still alive." ■
