(7 Mar 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
++PLEASE NOTE: SCRIPT AND VIDEO UPDATED TO REMOVE A SOUNDBITE++PLEASE USE THIS VERSION, UPDATED AT 2330 GMT++
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Gaza City, Gaza Strip – 7 March 2025
1. Various of men passing by the Imam Shafii mosque, seen from inside the destroyed walls
2. Various of destruction in the mosque, and area covered with plastic where people gathered to pray
3. Various of men praying
4. Various of men and children praying
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Muhammad Al-Zeit, worshipper:
"I was surprised by the number of worshippers who came to the mosque, which was filled to the brim even though water (rain) was falling on people and the conditions are not favorable.”
6. Various of Iman speaking, worshippers listening inside the heavily damaged mosque
7. Various of men and children attending Friday prayers inside the mosque
8. Wide of damaged mosque
9. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Fady Al-Rafati, worshipper:
"I am happy to return to the mosque, but today the mosques are destroyed and not suitable for prayer. I mean, as you can see, the effects of the bombing with missiles and shells, and the rain is falling on people.”
10. Various of men standing outside the mosque
11. Various of exteriors of damaged mosque
STORYLINE:
People gathered for the first Friday communal prayers in the shattered concrete husk of Gaza City’s Imam Shafii Mosque, heavily damaged by Israeli forces during fighting.
Fady Al-Rafati, who attended the prayers in the damaged mosque, said he was happy but concerned about the conditions.
Last Ramadan, the war was raging, but this time, a fragile ceasefire is in place since mid-January — though its future is uncertain.
Since Sunday, Israel has barred all food, fuel, medicine and other supplies from entering Gaza for some 2 million people, demanding Hamas accept a revised deal.
With no aid entering into the Strip, Palestinians struggle to get food and break their fast with a proper meal.
During Ramadan, Muslims fast from dawn until sunset as a sign of humility, submission to God and sympathy for the poor and hungry.
The first phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire brought the release of 25 Israeli hostages held by militants in Gaza and the bodies of eight others in exchange for the freeing of nearly 2,000 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
But an intended second phase of the deal — meant to bring the release of remaining hostages and a lasting truce and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza — has been thrown into doubt.
Israel has balked at entering negotiations over the terms of the second phase.
Instead, it has called for Hamas to release half its remaining hostages in return for an extension of the ceasefire and a promise to negotiate a lasting truce.
It says its bar on aid to Gaza will continue and could be escalated until Hamas accepts the proposal — a move rights groups and Arab countries have decried as a “starvation tactic.”
Hamas has demanded implementation of the original ceasefire deal.
A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo on Friday to discuss the implementation of the deal and to push for the second phase, Egypt’s State Information Service said.
Israel’s military offensive has killed over 48,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were militants.
It was triggered by Hamas’ Oct.7, 2023 attack on southern Israel, in which militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took a total of 251 people hostage.
Most have been released in ceasefire agreements or other arrangements.
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