Palestinians evacuated from Gaza and given a safe haven in the UAE have delivered impassioned prayers for peace in their besieged homeland as they reflected on a Ramadan marred by conflict.
More than 1,200 Gazans being housed at Abu Dhabi's Emirates Humanitarian City sat side by side for a poignant iftar on Tuesday evening as thoughts turned to loved ones in the Gaza Strip.
The traditional breaking of the fast, usually shared with friends and family, resonates deeply with a proud community left yearning for a return to better times after months of violence.
More than 31,900 Palestinians have been killed since the Israeli offensive began, Gaza's Health Ministry says, with women and children making up two thirds of the dead.
The majority of the territory's 2.3 million people remain displaced, as a humanitarian crisis worsens and the threat of famine looms. Many of the children of evacuated families have been left without homes and are now living in tents in southern Gaza that have been flooded after heavy rain.
About half of the 1,200 Gazans at EHC are patients requiring treatment, with the remainder being relatives accompanying them. Many of them children, some only a few months old, and have known only the horrors of war.
Mubarak Al Qahtani, a spokesman for EHC, said the UAE has sought to offer solace and some sense of normality in the most trying of times.
The sprawling housing complex is supported by the UAE's Family Development Authority, the Zayed Higher Organization for People of Determination, the Emirates Red Crescent and a number of other groups.
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