PALESTINIANS began fasting for Ramadan today as the Muslim holy month arrived with ceasefire talks at a standstill, hunger worsening across the Gaza Strip and no end in sight to Israel’s five-month war on Gaza.

Prayers were held outside amid the rubble of demolished buildings late on Sunday. 

Some people hung fairy lights and decorations in packed tent camps, and a video from a United Nations-school-turned-shelter showed children dancing and spraying foam as a man sang into a loudspeaker.

But the Palestinians have little to celebrate as the Israeli killing spree has left 31,112 people, mainly women and children, dead.

Israel’s bombardment continued yesterday, with Palestine’s General Federation of Trade Unions reporting that its Gaza headquarters has now been destroyed, alongside two “subsidiary” trade union centres in the strip.

The Israelis launched their relentless collective punishment of the Palestinians after the surprise attack by Hamas and its allies on October 7 during which some 1,200 people were killed and 250 were taken hostage.

Hamas is still believed to be holding about 100 captives following an exchange during a ceasefire last year as well as the remains of about 30 others killed during Israeli bombardments.

Families would ordinarily break the daily fast with holiday feasts, but even where food is available, there is little beyond canned goods and the prices are too high for many.

Sabah al-Hendi, who was shopping for food on Sunday in the city of Rafah, said: “Every family is sad. Every family has a martyr.”

The United States, Qatar and Egypt had hoped to broker a ceasefire ahead of the normally joyous month of dawn-to-dusk fasting that would include the release of dozens of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners and the entry of a large amount of humanitarian aid, but the talks stalled last week.

Hamas wants guarantees that any ceasefire agreement will lead to an end to the war. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the offensive until “total victory” against Hamas and the release of all the remaining hostages.

The war has driven about 80 per cent of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people from their homes and pushed hundreds of thousands to the brink of famine. 

Health officials say at least 20 people, mostly children, have died from malnutrition and dehydration in northern Gaza.

US President Joe Biden, the largest provider of weapons for the Israelis, acknowledged in his annual Ramadan message that the holy month comes “at a moment of intense pain.”

He said: “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.”

He said: “It is front of mind for me.”