Washington:

Greeting the Muslim community across the world on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan, US President Joe Biden on Sunday reiterated that the United States will continue working non-stop to establish an immediate and sustained ceasefire for at least six weeks as part of a deal that releases hostages.

“While we get more life-saving aid to Gaza, the United States will continue working non-stop to establish an immediate and sustained ceasefire for at least six weeks as part of a deal that releases hostages. And we will continue building toward a long-term future of stability, security, and peace. That includes a two-state solution to ensure Palestinians and Israelis share equal measures of freedom, dignity, security, and prosperity. That is the only path toward an enduring peace,” Biden said.

The United States will continue to lead international efforts to get more humanitarian assistance into Gaza by land, air, and sea, he said.

“Earlier this week, I directed our military to lead an emergency mission to establish a temporary pier on the coast of Gaza that can receive large shipments of aid. We are carrying out airdrops of aid, in coordination with our international partners, including Jordan. And we’ll continue to work with Israel to expand deliveries by land, insisting that it facilitate more routes and open more crossings to get more aid to more people,” Biden said.

Tonight – as the new crescent moon marks the beginning of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan – Jill and I extend our best wishes and prayers to Muslims across our country and around the world. pic.twitter.com/oLC4Rmq0mA

— President Biden (@POTUS) March 11, 2024

In a message, Biden said as the new crescent moon marks the beginning of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, he and the First Lady extend their best wishes and prayers to Muslims across the US and around the world.

“The sacred month is a time for reflection and renewal. This year, it comes at a moment of immense pain. The war in Gaza has inflicted terrible suffering on the Palestinian people. More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed, most of them civilians, including thousands of children. Some are family members of American Muslims, who are deeply grieving their lost loved ones today,” he said.

“Nearly two million Palestinians have been displaced by the war; many are in urgent need of food, water, medicine, and shelter. As Muslims gather around the world over the coming days and weeks to break their fast, the suffering of the Palestinian people will be front of mind for many. It is front of mind for me,” said the US president.

Biden noted that in the US they have seen an “appalling resurgence” of hate and violence towards Muslim Americans. Islamophobia has absolutely no place in the United States, a country founded on freedom of worship and built on the contributions of immigrants, including Muslim immigrants, Biden said.

“My administration is developing the first-ever National Strategy to Counter Islamophobia and Related Forms of Bias and Discrimination, to take on hate against Muslims, Sikhs, South Asians, and Arab American communities, wherever it occurs. No one should ever fear being targeted at school, at work, on the street, or in their community because of their background or beliefs,” he said.

“To Muslims across our country, please know that you are deeply valued members of our American family. To those who are grieving during this time of war, I hear you, I see you, and I pray you find solace in your faith, family, and community. And to all who are marking the beginning of Ramadan tonight, I wish you a safe, healthy, and blessed month. Ramadan kareem,” Biden said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Officials saw the crescent moon on Sunday night in Saudi Arabia marking the start of the holy month of Ramadan. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Officials saw the crescent moon on Sunday night in Saudi Arabia, home to the holiest sites in Islam, marking the start of the holy fasting month of Ramadan for many of the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims.

The sacred month, which sees those observing abstain from food and water from sunrise to sunset, marks a period of religious reflection, family get-togethers and giving across the Muslim world. Seeing the moon on Sunday night means Monday is the first day of the fast.

Saudi state television reported authorities there saw the crescent moon. However, there are some Asian countries, like Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, that will begin Ramadan on Tuesday after failing to see the crescent moon.

This year’s Ramadan comes as West Asia remains inflamed by Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. That’s raised fears that the conflict may spark unrest far beyond the current borders of the war. Meanwhile, inflation and high prices of food around the world since the pandemic continue to pinch

In Saudi Arabia, the kingdom had been urging the public to watch the skies from Sunday night in preparation for the sighting of the crescent moon. Ramadan works on a lunar calendar and moon-sighting methodologies often vary between countries, meaning some nations declare the start of the month earlier or later.

However, many Sunni-dominated nations in West Asia follow the lead of Saudi Arabia, home to Mecca and the Kaaba that Muslims pray toward five times a day.

In Iran, which views itself as the worldwide leader of Islam’s minority branch Shiites, authorities typically begin Ramadan a day after Sunnis start.

During Ramadan, those observing typically break their fast with a date and water, following the tradition set by the Prophet Muhammad. Then they’ll enjoy an “iftar,” or a large meal. They’ll have a pre-dawn meal, or “suhoor,” to sustain themselves during the daylight hours.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar; the month cycles through the seasons and the months in the Gregorian calendar.

Muslims try to avoid conflict and focus on acts of charity during the holy month. However, the war in the Gaza Strip is looming large over this year’s Ramadan for many Muslims.

The war began on October 7, 2023, with Hamas’ attack on Israel that killed some 1,200 people and saw 250 others taken hostage. Israel responded with a grinding war targeting the Gaza Strip that so far has seen over 30,000 Palestinians killed and an intense siege of the seaside enclave cutting off electricity, food and water.

Scenes of Palestinians praying before bombed-out mosques and chasing after food airdropped by foreign nations continue to anger those across the Middle East and the wider world. The U.S. has been pressuring Israel, which relies on American military hardware and support, to allow more food in as Ramadan begins. It also plans a sea corridor with other partners.

The war, as well as Israeli restrictions on Muslims praying at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third-holiest site, may further inflame militant anger. The site is also known as the Temple Mount, which Jews consider their most sacred site.

The Islamic State group, which once held a self-described caliphate across territory in Iraq and Syria, has launched attacks around Ramadan as well. Though now splintered, the group has tried to capitalize on the Israel-Hamas war to raise its profile.

War also continues to rage across Sudan despite efforts to try and reach a Ramadan ceasefire.

Members of the Palestinian Astronomical Society and the Waqf team use a telescope to look for a crescent moon ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan at the Al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem on March 10, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Officials saw the crescent moon on Sunday night in Saudi Arabia, home to the holiest sites in Islam, marking the start of the holy fasting month of Ramadan for many of the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims.

The sacred month, which sees those observing abstain from food and water from sunrise to sunset, marks a period of religious reflection, family get-togethers and giving across the Muslim world. Seeing the moon on Sunday night means Monday is the first day of the fast.

Saudi state television reported authorities there saw the crescent moon. However, there are some Asian countries, like Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, that will begin Ramadan on Tuesday after failing to see the crescent moon.

This year’s Ramadan comes as West Asia remains inflamed by Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. That’s raised fears that the conflict may spark unrest far beyond the current borders of the war. Meanwhile, inflation and high prices of food around the world since the pandemic continue to pinch

In Saudi Arabia, the kingdom had been urging the public to watch the skies from Sunday night in preparation for the sighting of the crescent moon. Ramadan works on a lunar calendar and moon-sighting methodologies often vary between countries, meaning some nations declare the start of the month earlier or later.

However, many Sunni-dominated nations in West Asia follow the lead of Saudi Arabia, home to Mecca and the Kaaba that Muslims pray toward five times a day.

In Iran, which views itself as the worldwide leader of Islam’s minority branch Shiites, authorities typically begin Ramadan a day after Sunnis start.

During Ramadan, those observing typically break their fast with a date and water, following the tradition set by the Prophet Muhammad. Then they’ll enjoy an “iftar,” or a large meal. They’ll have a pre-dawn meal, or “suhoor,” to sustain themselves during the daylight hours.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar; the month cycles through the seasons and the months in the Gregorian calendar.

Muslims try to avoid conflict and focus on acts of charity during the holy month. However, the war in the Gaza Strip is looming large over this year’s Ramadan for many Muslims.

The war began on October 7, 2023, with Hamas’ attack on Israel that killed some 1,200 people and saw 250 others taken hostage. Israel responded with a grinding war targeting the Gaza Strip that so far has seen over 30,000 Palestinians killed and an intense siege of the seaside enclave cutting off electricity, food and water.

Scenes of Palestinians praying before bombed-out mosques and chasing after food airdropped by foreign nations continue to anger those across the Middle East and the wider world. The U.S. has been pressuring Israel, which relies on American military hardware and support, to allow more food in as Ramadan begins. It also plans a sea corridor with other partners.

The war, as well as Israeli restrictions on Muslims praying at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third-holiest site, may further inflame militant anger. The site is also known as the Temple Mount, which Jews consider their most sacred site.

The Islamic State group, which once held a self-described caliphate across territory in Iraq and Syria, has launched attacks around Ramadan as well. Though now splintered, the group has tried to capitalize on the Israel-Hamas war to raise its profile.

War also continues to rage across Sudan despite efforts to try and reach a Ramadan ceasefire.

Three days of negotiations with Hamas over a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages ended on March 5 without a breakthrough, Egyptian officials said, less than a week before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the informal deadline for a deal.

The United States, Qatar and Egypt have spent weeks trying to broker an agreement in which Hamas would release up to 40 hostages in return for a monthlong ceasefire, the release of some Palestinian prisoners and an influx of aid to address the humanitarian catastrophe in the territory.

Two Egyptian officials said the latest round of discussions had ended. They said Hamas presented a proposal that mediators would discuss with Israel in the coming days.

Hamas has refused to release all of the estimated 100 hostages it holds, and the remains of around 30 more, unless Israel ends its offensive, withdraws from the territory and releases a large number of Palestinian prisoners, including senior militants serving life sentences.

Also read: U.N. envoy says ‘reasonable grounds’ to believe Hamas committed sexual violence on October 7

Jihad Taha, a Hamas spokesperson, said the negotiations were ongoing but “the ball is in the Israeli court.” He said Israel had thus far refused Hamas’ demands for people who fled northern Gaza to be allowed to return and for guarantees of a ceasefire and full withdrawal.

“Hamas is open to proposals and initiatives that are consistent with its position calling for a ceasefire, withdrawal, the return of the displaced, the entry of relief convoys and reconstruction,” Mr. Taha said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly rejected Hamas’ demands and repeatedly vowed to continue the war until Hamas is dismantled and all the hostages are returned. Israel did not send a delegation to the latest round of talks.

Also read: The Israel-Palestine conflict — 100 years of history

An Israeli official said Israel was still waiting for Hamas to hand over a list of hostages who are alive as well the hostage-to-prisoner ratio it seeks in any release deal. It was not clear if that information was included in the latest proposal.

The Israeli and Egyptian officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media on the negotiations.

Benny Gantz, a member of Mr. Netanyahu’s War Cabinet and his main political rival, met with senior U.S. officials in Washington on a visit that drew a rebuke from the prime minister, the latest sign of a growing rift within Israel’s leadership.

Mediators had hoped to broker an agreement ahead of Ramadan, the month of dawn-to-dusk fasting that often sees heightened Israeli-Palestinian tensions linked to access to a major holy site in Jerusalem. The month is expected to begin around March 10, depending on the sighting of the moon.

“The negotiations are sensitive. I can’t say there is optimism or pessimism, but we haven’t yet reached a point at which we can achieve a cease-fire,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said Monday.

Hamas’ attack and its aftermath

The war began with a Hamas attack into southern Israel on Oct. 7 in which Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people and took around 250 hostages. More than 100 of them were released during a weeklong cease-fire in November.

Precarious situation in northern Gaza

The attack sparked an Israeli invasion of the enclave of 2.3 million people that Gaza’s Health Ministry says has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians. Aid groups say the fighting has displaced most of the territory’s population and pushed a quarter of the population to the brink of famine.

The U.N. children’s agency said on March 4 that at least 10 children have reportedly died in isolated northern Gaza because of dehydration and malnutrition.

“There are likely more children fighting for their lives somewhere in one of Gaza’s few remaining hospitals, and likely even more children in the north unable to obtain care at all,” Adele Khodr, the UNICEF regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement. “These tragic and horrific deaths are man-made, predictable and entirely preventable,” she added.

The Gaza Health Ministry said that 15 children have starved to death at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza and another six were at risk of dying from malnutrition and dehydration. It was not clear if the children had underlying medical conditions that increased their vulnerability.

Northern Gaza, the first target of Israel’s offensive, has suffered mass devastation. The World Food Program recently suspended aid shipments to the north, citing the breakdown of security. An attempt by the Israeli military to bring in aid ended in tragedy last week when over 100 Palestinians were fatally shot by Israeli forces or trampled to death in a melee.

Up to 3,00,000 Palestinians are believed to remain in northern Gaza after Israel ordered the evacuation of the entire region, including Gaza City, in October. Many have been reduced to eating animal fodder to survive. The U.N. says one in six children under 2 in the north suffer from acute malnutrition.

The United States and other countries have carried out air drops in recent days, but aid groups say the expensive, last-ditch measure is not enough to address the soaring needs.

Israel is still carrying out strikes in all parts of Gaza and has threatened to expand its ground offensive to the southernmost city of Rafah, where around half of Gaza’s population has sought refuge. Gantz has said the Rafah operation could begin as soon as Ramadan if there is no deal on the hostages.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said 97 people had been killed over the last 24 hours. bringing the overall Palestinian death toll to 30,631. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its figures, but says women and children make up around two-thirds of the total casualties.

Israel says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames the high toll on Hamas because the militants operate in dense, residential areas. But the army rarely accounts for individual strikes, which often kill women and children.

Doha:

Qatar is “hopeful” of a Gaza war ceasefire and is pushing for an agreement before Ramadan, its foreign ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday.

The gas-rich Gulf state, which hosts Hamas’s political bureau, has been a key mediator in negotiations involving the Palestinian militants, Israel, the United States and Egypt.

“We remain hopeful, not necessarily optimistic, that we can announce something today or tomorrow, but we remain hopeful that we can get to some kind of agreement,” Majed al-Ansari told a regular briefing.

“Obviously, we said that Ramadan is going to be a point of contention, it’s going to be a point of confrontation, that we are going to push for a pause before the beginning of Ramadan.

“We are all aiming towards that target, but the situation is still fluid on the ground,” he added.

Ansari was speaking after US President Joe Biden said a new ceasefire and hostage release could start as soon as Monday, ahead of the Muslim holy month that will begin around March 11.

“Till now we don’t have an agreement, we are still working on the negotiations on all sides,” Ansari said.

Israel’s air, land and sea war against Hamas in retaliation for its deadly October 7 attacks on southern Israel has killed at least 29,878 people, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says.

Hamas attacked rural communities and military posts bordering the Gaza Strip, leaving at least 1,160 people dead, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Some 250 hostages were taken, of whom 130 are still in Gaza, although about 30 are thought to be dead, Israel says.

A one-week pause in fighting in November saw more than 100 hostages released, including 80 Israelis who were freed in exchange for some 240 Palestinians jailed in Israel.

Egyptian, Qatari and US mediators met in Doha on Sunday for talks also attended by Israeli and Hamas representatives, state-linked Egyptian media said.

The Doha talks followed a meeting in Paris, without Hamas, where representatives “came to an understanding among the four of them about what the basic contours of a hostage deal for temporary ceasefire would look like”, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told CNN.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)