For years, Ramadan was a month of tension that Israel treated with respect and security suspicion, while arranging to allow freedom of worship at the Al-Aqsa mosque in Israel's capital – in the shadow of terrorism directed mainly at Jerusalem. Now, after the IDF crushed Hezbollah and Hamas – who even remembers Ramadan while the "death-seeking" mujahideen are trading in Jewish corpses and hostages, profiteering from humanitarian aid to their people, begging for a ceasefire, and hiding among ruins and sewage tunnels?

On one hand, instead of distributing "halawiyat" (sweets) when Jews were murdered, Hamas members are now extracting the bodies of their terrorist family members from the rubble and from the teeth of wild dogs in the streets. On the other hand, they are trading in Jewish bodies and hostages. Perhaps reducing humanitarian aid might strengthen the fast and possibly distance them from hellfire. Qatar – which supported, incited, and financed Palestinian terrorism – must prepare to receive Hamas criminals, Islamic Jihad, and the Palestinian mob that supports them.

Most plays and films during Ramadan deal with Islamic prophecies and its future world domination within the framework of "end times" promises, the greatness of Islam and its conquests – especially from the days of Muhammad and his supporters and, of course, Salah al-Din and his victories against the Crusaders – in short: Sinwar's dreams.

The name 'Ramadan' likely originates from the Arabic root letters r-m-d (related to heat and burning), which corresponds to the Hebrew word "rametz" meaning "scorching heat." This connection makes sense as the month was originally celebrated by nomadic Arab tribes during the Jahiliyyah period, always during the peak of summer. Since Islam abolished the leap year, Islamic dates change and occur sometimes in summer and sometimes in winter.

In complete contrast to the Islamic invaders, Jews lived in the Land of Israel as a permanent agricultural society – not nomadic. Jews have celebrated their holidays there for thousands of years revolving around agricultural seasons precisely according to the Hebrew leap-year calendar. As permanent residents and owners of the land, Jews tied their lives, holidays, and worship to the soil of the Land of Israel, the pilgrimage, and sacrificial offerings in the Temple in Jerusalem as commanded in the Torah.

The idealization of Islamic conquests in "Ramadan stories" is an important motif especially among Palestinians, who are obsessively engaged with how nomads and invaders emerged from the Arabian Peninsula in their raids ("ghazawat") on behalf of "Allah" to our land, on their way to implementing Islamic rule over the world in the "end of days," moving in pursuit of grazing grass, plunder, blood, looting, rape, and murder. This is the fuel that drives Islamic movements from the breeding ground of the Muslim Brotherhood even today.

Seemingly, Muslims attribute to this fasting period a closeness to God and improvement of character in order to gain God's forgiveness and redemption from hellfire. In practice, Ramadan stories generate in the Islamist mob (fasting, religious lessons, incitement, sermons, and "night stories") inflammatory and murderous radicalization starring bearded sheikhs from terrorist organizations who turn every madman, dressed in a thawb and wearing slippers, armed with a knife – into Salah al-Din.

As mentioned, during the Jahiliyyah period, Ramadan was considered a month in which a ceasefire was declared. It was an agreement between the tribes in the Arabian Peninsula. Tradition attributes to Muhammad a saying (hadith) about Ramadan that creates a spiritual acronym from its name: the R representing "Rahma" (mercy), the M representing "Maghfira" (forgiveness), and the D/N representing 'Najat min al-Nar' (salvation from hellfire).

From Ramadan to war, terrorism, murder, and bloodshed

But even Islamic countries (Egypt attacked us during Ramadan 1973, which fell on Yom Kippur) and especially Islamist terrorist organizations have deliberately turned the "rametz" of Ramadan into an inferno of war, terrorism, murder, and bloodshed. Palestinian terrorist organizations have gone further: not only do they choose to wage wars and carry out terrorist attacks specifically during Ramadan, which is sacred to them, but they will always prefer to carry out acts of murder and attacks specifically during Jewish holidays. The recent massacre in the Gaza border communities was also carried out on Simchat Torah and on Sabbath.

The murderous traits embedded in Palestinian "believers" are far worse than those of their ancestors from the Jahiliyyah period. Sinwar's murderous dreams, which included kidnapping civilians, soldiers, and children, raping women (as per Islamic tradition), and trading in bodies (necrophilia), have turned from a dream into an ongoing Palestinian-Hamas nightmare. Instead of the "Mahdi" of the "end times," they are faced with ginger-haired Trump who demands they emigrate from Gaza (a recommended destination is Qatar – the bank of terrorism and Islamic incitement, a land without people – which will be forced to absorb "people" without land).

For Ramadan, Trump demanded the release of the hostages (dead and alive) and announced that he is equipping Israel with powerful deep-penetration bombs. The significance of these bombs is that they can penetrate deep tunnels, Iranian bunkers, and even collapse both the Aswan Dam and the "Nahda" Dam together (if needed). These "end time" scenarios can unite the holiday of Purim (destruction of Haman/Khamenei) with Passover (drowning of Pharaoh's army and forces).

No "mercy" or "forgiveness" will any human being find in the barbarians of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and their supporters – only fire and columns of smoke. All those rapists, child murderers, and beheaders "in the name of the merciful and compassionate Allah" who invaded the Gaza border communities on Sabbath – Simchat Torah in October 2023 – will spend Ramadan this year – as a month of murderousness – in collapsing plastic greenhouses.

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The holiday of Eid al-Fitr ushered in a day of prayers and joy for Muslims around the world on Friday. The celebration was marred by tragedy amid the explosion of conflict in Sudan, while in other countries it came against the backdrop of hopes for a better future.

After the Ramadan month of fasting, Muslims celebrate Eid al-Fitr with feasts and family visits. The start of the holiday is traditionally based on sightings of the new moon, which vary according to geographic location.

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In Sudan's capital, Khartoum, staccato blasts of gunfire marked the early hours of the feast day. A deadly conflict in the vast African country that erupted in the past week has forced many people to shelter indoors ahead of the holiday, even as water and food for civilians run low.

In Jerusalem, thousands of faithful gathered at Islam's third holiest shrine, the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, where tensions with Israeli authorities have seethed in the past month. The compound also hosts Judaism's holiest site.

Following holiday prayers, a clown entertained children, and a woman painted the cheek of a girl with the green, red, black, and white Palestinian flag. Some attendees trampled on an Israeli flag and unfurled banners in support of Palestinian militant groups. The streets of the Arab capitals of Damascus, Baghdad, and Beirut were crowded with worshippers heading to mosques and cemeteries. Many Muslims visit the graves of their loved ones after the early morning prayer on the first day of Eid al-Fitr. Visitors toted bouquets, jugs of water for plants, and brooms to clean gravestones. "After the Eid prayer we always visit our dead … to pray and pay our respects, may God have mercy and forgive them on this blessed day," said Atheer Mohamed in Baghdad's Azamiya cemetery.

Islam's holidays follow a lunar calendar. But some countries rely on astronomical calculations rather than physical sightings. This frequently leads to disagreements between religious authorities in different countries – and sometimes in the same country – over the start date of Eid al-Fitr. This year, Saudi Arabia and many other Arab countries began their Eid celebrations on Friday, while Iran, Pakistan, and Indonesia, among others, set the first day of the holiday for Saturday.

In Sudan, the holiday was eclipsed by a week of raging battles between the army and its rival paramilitary force, which are locked in a violent struggle to control the country. The fighting has killed hundreds of people and wounded thousands.

In a video message released early Friday, his first speech since the fighting broke out, Sudan's top general Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan marked the somber tone of the holiday. "Ruin and destruction and the sound of bullets have left no place for the happiness everyone in our beloved country deserves," he said.

The day before, Sudan's military ruled out negotiations with the rival paramilitary force, known as the Rapid Support Forces, saying it would only accept its surrender as the two sides continued to battle in central Khartoum and other parts of the country, threatening to wreck international attempts to broker a sustainable cease-fire.

Yet in other parts of the region, the recent rapprochement between arch-rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran has kindled hopes for peace.

In Yemen, the Saudi-Iranian rapprochement raised the possibility for an end to the civil war that had turned into a proxy conflict and torn the impoverished country apart since 2014. Saudi officials and Iran-backed Houthi rebels recently began talks in Yemen's capital of Sanaa. During the last days of Ramadan, the warring sides exchanged hundreds of prisoners captured during the conflict. However, the moment of hope was marred by a stampede late Wednesday at a charitable event in the rebel-held capital that killed at least 78 people and injured 77.

This year's Eid al-Fitr also came on the heels of intensified violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Alaa Abu Hatab and his only remaining daughter started the holiday in the Palestinian Gaza Strip by visiting the graves of his wife and four children who were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the day of Eid al-Fitr in 2021. That strike also killed Abu Hatab's sister and her children.b"Because they were killed in the Eid, I miss them, especially during Eid al-Fitr. I miss their laughter," Abu Hatab said, standing by his family's grave with his six-year-old daughter, Maria. The holiday has become a "scene of pain and loss," he said.

In Afghanistan's Kabul, where worshippers gathered under the watchful eyes of its Taliban rulers, 35-year-old Abdul Matin said, "I wish that besides security we had good income and good jobs. Unfortunately, people can't afford to buy all their necessities at this difficult time." In Turkey and Syria, many are still mourning loved ones lost in the devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck the two countries on Feb. 6, killing more than 50,000 people.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday performed morning Eid prayers at Hagia Sophia, the 6th-century Byzantine church in Istanbul that was turned into a mosque in the 15th century. It became a museum in 1934 and was reconverted into a mosque three years ago. Erdogan, who is facing elections next month amid an economic crisis and the fallout of the earthquake, handed out chocolate and pastries to journalists outside the mosque, renamed Holy Ayasofya Grand Mosque.

In the United States, celebrations among the Sudanese community were tempered with concern for the homeland. They still gathered in large numbers for Friday prayers at the Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring.

"We are not in a mood to do anything joyful, but we're doing (these celebrations) for the kids," said Shaza Ahmed, who is among an estimated 20,000 Sudanese in Maryland and Virginia.

In Tennessee, where school state testing was underway, Imam Ossama Bahloul, the resident scholar at the Islamic Center of Nashville, said that for the first time, his daughter missed the holiday prayer with the family so she could take an exam.

In Minneapolis, Friday public school classes were called off for the first time to mark the holiday. About 10% of students are Muslim, said Jaylani Hussein, director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Minnesota.

"In Minneapolis, you can be unapologetically Muslim," Hussein said.

In Dearborn, Michigan, employees have Eid al-Fitr off as a paid holiday for the first time. Mayor Abdullah Hammoud said the precedent was not planned but that it was important for Muslim employees "to feel included and enjoy the holiday with their families."

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Two Israeli women in their 20s were killed in a terrorist attack on Friday while driving in the northern Jodan Valley. Another woman, who is believed to be in her 40s, was in serious condition. The two dead victims were sisters from Efrat, in Gush Etzion. The other passenger, who was evacuated to a hospital after being stabilized, is their mother.

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The three passengers' bullet-ridden car was found just before noon. Only after it became apparent that they had undergone an attack rather than got injured in a car accident did the IDF begin a manhunt for the perpetrators.

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First responders pronounced the two fatalities just minutes after they were found. It is believed the attackers deliberately waited for the victims' vehicle or caused it to crash, after which they sprayed bullets on the windshield and possibly later came to shoot more bullets to make sure they would die.

United Hatzalah emergency medical volunteers responded to a shooting incident that took place near Hamra in the Jordan Valley. United Hatzalah regional paramedic Oded Shabbat, who was one of the first responders at the scene said: "When I arrived I found three people who were in critical condition. Together with other first responders, I performed CPR on the injured in an attempt to save their lives. One injured person was transported by helicopter to the hospital for further care."

The attack comes on the heels of a major escalation between Israel and the Palestinians both in Gaza and in the West Bank, during the sensitive time of the Holy Month of Ramadan and Passover.

The Magen David Adom ambulance service said that when it arrived at the scene it found a wrecked Israeli vehicle with the three women as well as a ditched Palestinian vehicle.

Gush Etzion Regional Council Chairman and Yesha Council Head Shlomo Ne'eman's issued a response to the deadly Jordan Valley terrorist shooting attack. "In the face of terrorism, we have to put aside our differences and act with an iron fist," he said. Ne'eman added "A terrible terrorist attack took place today, on Passover, in the Jordan Valley. Despicable and heartless people murdered young women on their way to celebrate the holiday. Our only enemy is terror which raises its head and must be eliminated. The terrorists must be caught and not left alive.

"It is time to stop with these defensive policies and go on the offensive. Only heavy-handed actions against the enemy and the continued construction and development of Jewish communities will restore peace to the region. No terror will cause us to surrender, we will continue to live and thrive in the land of our ancestors. We send our condolences to the families and send our best wishes for a complete recovery to the person injured in the attack."

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The rise in violence in Judea and Samaria comes as no surprise to Israel's defense and security establishment, and the IDF has been preparing for several weeks for the possibility of suicide terrorist attacks. Meanwhile, there is growing concern about copycat terrorist attacks following Sunday's shooting at Tapuach Junction, which left three Israelis wounded, including one in critical condition. Doctors at Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva were battling for his life on Monday morning.

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There are a few reasons for the heightened concern. First, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' decision last Thursday to postpone the Palestinian legislative elections, originally scheduled for May 22. Abbas blamed his decision on Israel, on the grounds that Israel had refused to allow Palestinian residents of east Jerusalem to vote in the PA elections, but the major factor in his decision was his fear of a Hamas victory.

In addition to the postponement of the PA elections, Palestinian Muslims are observing Ramadan, which is usually marked by security incidents. The fourth week of Ramadan, generally considered the most difficult, falls next week, coinciding this year with Jerusalem Day, also a fraught date often marked by rioting.

As of Sunday night, the IDF had not yet increased its forces in Judea and Samaria, partly because additional forces were already deployed there at the start of Ramadan. But because the security establishment fears that "successful" terrorist attacks – ones that kill or wound Israelis – will inspire more potential terrorists, the IDF plans to increase its presence on major roads and intersections.

The drive-by shooting at Tapuach Junction on Sunday came after a 60-year-old Palestinian woman attempted to stab an IDF soldier at Gush Etzion Junction that morning.

IDF soldiers at the scene shot the woman in the upper body, neutralizing her. She was evacuated for medical treatment in serious condition. No Israelis were wounded.

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Israeli health technology startup Lumen has launched its eponymous health tracking device in the Middle East with a project to track the impact of Ramadan fasting on people's bodies, the company announced Wednesday.

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The Lumen device measures the body's carbon dioxide concentration when a user breathes into it. The levels measured indicate the type of fuel the user's body is using to produce energy – how much fat, and how much carbs. The device then provides nutritional recommendations.

As intermittent fasting becomes more common, the Lumen research team is going back to a long-established tradition of fasting. Throughout the Islamic month of Ramadan, which this year begins the evening of April 13 and lasts until May 12, the Lumen research team will analyze metabolism measurements of 2,000 people across the Middle East, Asia, North America and the UK who observe the fast, before and after the Iftar and Suhur meals, which break and start the fast, respectively.

"We are very exciting to draw insights from one of the largest fasting traditions – the holy month of Ramadan. The unique setting enables to see how these fasting windows impact our metabolism but also other interesting factors such as not consuming water throughout the day, the timing of the meals and of course the impressive month-long duration of the fasting practice," said Lumen's head of data, Barak Alon.

Currently, over 45% of Lumen users across the Middle East who fast 16 hours are able to shift their fuel source to fat burn. Lumen will publish their results when Ramadan ends to sum up the impact of fasting for all daylight hours for an entire month.

Lumen was co-founded by Israeli twins Michal and Merav Mor, both of whom hold doctorates in physiology. They now serve as head of science for product and head of research and science.

The Mor sisters came up with the idea for a personal metabolic tracker while training for an Ironman triathlon. After eight years of development and an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign, Lumen was released worldwide on March 31.

"While metabolism is key to weight loss, the only way to test metabolism was through a restrictive, hours-long laboratory process, leaving regular people with zero visibility into their metabolic rate and only haphazard ways of improving it," said Michal Mor.

"With Lumen, we are bringing scientifically rigorous insight into personal metabolism for the very first time, allowing anyone at home to measure how efficient their body is at burning calories, but also sharing research-driven recommendations on how they can reach their health and fitness goals faster," Mor added.

In a study conducted by San Francisco State University, Lumen has been validated to meet the gold standard for metabolic measurement.

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Critics say it and another series aired on the network promote normalization with Israel.

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Relations between Israel and Arab Gulf states have quietly improved in recent years as they have come to see Iran as a shared threat and Arab leaders have sought to curry favor with the Trump administration. Most TV shows in the Arab world are made by private companies, but producers must heed red lines set by the region's autocratic rulers.

Umm Haroun, Arabic for "the mother of Aaron," is set in an unnamed Gulf country in 1948. At that time, Jewish communities, some with ancient roots, could be found across the Arab world.

The series is being aired during Ramadan when viewership soars after Muslims break the daylong fast. It's like the Super Bowl for advertisers – even more so this year when many people are stuck at home because of coronavirus lockdowns.

The show portrays Jews and Muslims living together in peace and even features a romance between a Jewish woman and a Muslim man. Relations deteriorate after the creation of Israel.

In the years after the creation of Israel, Jews across the Middle East faced heightened persecution and hundreds of thousands emigrated to the new state. Once-thriving Jewish communities dwindled to only a handful of elderly holdouts or disappeared altogether.

Another Saudi-made series, Exit 7, has also struck a nerve.

A clip shared widely on social media features a debate between two main characters in which one defends the Palestinians while the other says he would be happy to do business in Israel. He accuses the Palestinians of being ungrateful for Saudi support and says they would attack the kingdom if they could.

The shows have prompted online calls for a boycott of MBC, the private, Saudi-owned satellite channel airing them. The Cairo-based Union of Arab Television Producers said they should be canceled, calling them "cheap works" meant to "brainwash" the Arab people.

The makers of Umm Haroun insist they have no political agenda.

"I wanted to write this drama to deliver the message that our societies were much more tolerant than they are today, and people should go back to the same values," Ali Shams, the head writer, told The Associated Press.

Producer Emad al-Enazy said the series was developed by MBC as well as Kuwaiti and Emirati production companies, with no governments involved.

For decades, Arab media frequently employed anti-Semitic tropes. But in recent years, show-runners have taken a renewed interest in Middle Eastern Jewish communities and pushed back against perceptions of the Arab world as intolerant and closed-minded.

The Jewish Quarter, an Egyptian series that aired in 2015, offered a positive portrayal of the pre-1948 Jewish community in Cairo and featured a love story between a Jewish woman and an Egyptian army officer. The deterioration of relations was largely blamed on the Muslim Brotherhood group, which in recent years has been the target of an unprecedented crackdown by Egypt's government. This year, Egypt has come under fire for airing a Ramadan sci-fi drama predicting Israel's destruction.

In Syria, a number of serials aired since the onset of the civil war have portrayed Jews and Christians in a positive light and blamed any sectarian strife on Western meddling – a view that aligns with the government's portrayal of the 2011 uprising as a foreign plot.

"The goal was to show how a mosaic of religious life was integral to the Syrian community prior to the onslaught of the West," says Rebecca Joubin, a professor at Davidson College who wrote a book about Syrian television dramas.

Joe Khalil, a professor at Northwestern University of Qatar and a former television producer, says the annual Ramadan line-up is always a "balancing" act.

"The programs should appeal to advertisers, respect the religious context, and often do advance political agendas," he said.

The two series have fed into longstanding tensions between the Palestinians and their critics in the Gulf, where many never forgave the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for supporting Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

Those tensions have boiled over on social media in recent days under the trending hashtags "Palestine is not my cause" and "Palestine is my cause." Saudis have depicted the Palestinians as violent ingrates, while Palestinians have accused their Arab critics of selling them out.

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states welcomed the Trump administration's diplomatic efforts when the plan was announced in January while insisting they remain committed to a negotiated two-state solution.

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said last week that the online insults did not represent the official position of either side.

"Saudi Arabia has always stood alongside us and has always supported us in the international arena," he said.

Prince Turki al-Faisal, a prominent member of the Saudi ruling family and former intelligence chief, denied there was any push for normalization in a prime-time interview that also ran during Ramadan.

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But it's too dangerous in this era of the coronavirus -- in Egypt and in many Muslim countries, such "Tables of the Compassionate" have been barred.

So the mosque, which like others in Egypt had to shut its doors as a precaution against the virus, will use the funds that would have gone into the free communal tables to distribute packed meals and cash to those in need.

"We hope this could ease their suffering," said Sheikh Abdel-Rahman, the muezzin of the mosque in the district of Bahtim.

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As Ramadan begins with the new moon later this week, Muslims around the world are trying to maintain the cherished rituals of Islam's holiest month without further spreading the outbreak.

At the heart of Ramadan is the sunrise-to-sunset fast, meant to instill contemplation of God. But alongside the hardship of abstaining from food and drink for hours every day, the month sweeps everyone up into a communal spirit. Families and friends gather for large meals at sunset, known as iftars. In some countries, cafes and cultural events are packed late into the night. Worshippers go to mosques for hours of evening prayers, or "taraweeh." Many devote themselves to charity.

Muslims now find themselves cut off from much of what makes the month special as authorities fight the pandemic. Many countries have closed mosques and banned taraweeh to prevent crowds. Prominent clerics, including in Saudi Arabia, have urged people to pray at home.

Governments are trying to balance restrictions with traditions.

Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Egypt loosened their curfews, moving them back to start anywhere from a half hour to 90 minutes after sunset. That gives time to get to Iftar, but not much: people can't go too far to visit others for the meal unless they're prepared to stay the night.

Other countries have banned long internal travel. Syria gave people a window of two days this week to move between provinces, then restored its ban.

In Malaysia, Mohamad Fadhil said he was resigned to missing out on the surge in business at the Ramadan bazaar, where he and other sellers hawk food and drinks in crowded open-air markets. The bazaars have been shut down.

But he hoped the country's lockdown will be eased so he can bring his seven-year-old daughter home. She was at his parents about an hour away when the lockdown began six weeks ago, trapping her there.

"I hope we can be together as a family during Ramadan," he said.

In Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, the government has banned millions of government employees, soldiers and police from traveling home during the Eid al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of Ramadan.

"Fear of coronavirus has blocked us from celebrating Eid with my parents," said Rachmad Mardiansyah, a civil servant in Jakarta.

The loss of communal charity meals will particularly hurt as people lose jobs under coronavirus restrictions. Some are rushing to fill the void.

In Kashmir, the Muslim-majority territory contested by India and Pakistan, volunteers wearing masks and gloves drop off sacks of rice, flour, lentils and other staples for Ramadan at the doorsteps of those in need in the city of Srinagar.

They try to do it quietly, so not even the neighbors know they are receiving help.

"We have to take care of these people's self-respect," said one volunteer, Sajjad Ahmed.

Taïb Socé, a famous Muslim preacher on Rfm, a private radio station in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, said that while the government is taking action, "the rich must also help the poor."

"Solidarity must be in order. This is what the Prophet Muhammad did during times of war. COVID-19 is like a war," he said.

Donors can't help everywhere when need surges so quickly.

In the Gaza Strip, the group Salam Charitable usually receives donations from Turkey, Malaysia, Jordan and elsewhere for its Ramadan relief projects. Last year, it was able to distribute 11,000 food parcels and clothes for children.

This year, giving has dried up.

"This time last year, we had already three contracts to give food parcels to the poor. This year we don't have any," said Omar Saad, spokesman for the charity. "I think we missed the opportunity because Ramadan is starting soon."

In Pakistan, powerful Muslim clerics forced the government to leave mosques open throughout Ramadan. Mullah Abdul Aziz of the Red Mosque in the capital, Islamabad, ordered adherents to pack communal prayers. Last Friday, worshippers were shoulder-to-shoulder.

Still, calls by influential Saudi clerics to stay home also have an effect.

"We hear on TV what the big imams say," said Zaheer Abbas, an Islamabad resident who has been praying at home. "Praying is praying. God isn't only in the mosque."

In Somalia, while people lament the loss of community, Mogadishu resident Osman Yusuf tried to find optimism. The new restrictions "keep you closer to your loved ones for comfort," he said.

Not all Ramadan traditions are rooted in religion. Egypt is known for the TV comedies and drama series it churns out for the month, which are broadcast between the iftar and the pre-sunrise meal. A new batch is being produced for this year, despite coronavirus restrictions.

Iraqis have to give up a unique Ramadan tradition: tournaments of a game called "Mheibes." In the game, teams of up to several dozen people each line up and one member hides a ring in his hand. A member of the other team must guess who has the ring, usually by going up and down the line, trying to read facial tics or other "tells." The long tournaments are accompanied by sweets and tea and singing.

Health authorities pleaded with Jassim al-Aswad, the longtime Mheibes champion and tournament organizer, to call it off for the sake of public safety -- while praising his "preternatural abilities and unrivaled powers of discernment."

The 65-year-old al-Aswad relented.

"I feel very sad," he said. "Ramadan will be devoid of these popular rituals this year ... God wreak vengeance on corona, which deprived us of our most beautiful hobby."

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In a cabinet meeting on Thursday, most ministers said they were in favor of reopening the economy, at least gradually. The only attendees who sided with maintaining restrictions in place, with only slight adjustments, were Health Ministry representatives. Throughout the discussion, Netanyahu almost entirely refrained from taking a position. 

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The meeting was held with the help of the Zoom application, with some of the ministers attending from the cabinet room in the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, others from the Defense Ministry's Kirya headquarters in Tel Aviv, and Netanyahu himself from an adjacent room at the PMO.

The prime minister accepted the National Security Council's recommendation. The recommendation was formulated with the help of a team of experts headed by Prof. Eli Waxman from the Weizmann Institute of Science, which integrated and balanced the positions of the health, finance, economy and defense ministries respectively. 

The prime minister decided to opt for a cautious, responsible and phased plan that will consist of opening businesses on a limited and measured basis. The Finance Ministry will formulate a pilot plan for several commercial industries that could reopen, subject to Health Ministry guidelines and certain criteria. Additionally, sports activities will be permitted for up to two people at a time and up to 500 yards from their homes, as will individual special education.

Over the next 48 hours, the professional teams will prepare proposals and map out industries that could participate in the pilot, along with detailed protocols for businesses and companies looking to reopen and behavioral guidelines for the public. Changes could be made in accordance with discussions that will be ongoing over the next two days.

With respect to recent discussions, the prime minister cautioned that any plan must be "gradual and responsible." The PMO said in a statement that the NSC "spoke with many countries across the globe on the matter [of easing quarantine restrictions] and learned about the various challenges and proposals. The prime minister and other ministers have been presented with all the alternatives throughout the discussions."

Defense Minister Naftali Bennett said at Thursday's meeting that the economy must be revived as soon as possible and presented his own plan to that end. He stressed there was an urgent need to appoint a "national project manager with full authority to establish a mechanism for testing, researching and disseminating information."

Interior Minister Aryeh Deri presented a similar position and said, "We need to ease the quarantine and allow the economy to slowly return to normal. There are optimistic figures and we must let certain industries go back to work. I am very much in favor of lifting restrictions. However, we also need legislation requiring people to wear protective masks and gloves and to enforce it, in contrast to what is happening now. People who go into the public sphere without masks and gloves need to be fined. Easing the quarantine and the return to work must be done with a great deal of caution."

Meanwhile, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, said: "We don't need to wait until we drop to 100 or fewer new patients per day to ease the quarantine. The standard should mainly be the number of patients in critical condition, and in that regard, the number has dropped significantly; therefore we need, and can, start lifting restrictions immediately."

Erdan added that the greatest concern was the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. 

"The two million people who will be fasting over the upcoming month traditionally break that fast every evening with large feasts, and what we decide here will affect the atmosphere and level of obedience from that perspective as well. This is why the most important thing over the next few days is to invest in dialogue with the Arab leadership in Israel because this month could precipitate large infection outbreaks that will necessitate a return to quarantine. Public relations and dialogue and of course enforcement  [are imperative] in conjunction with the Arab municipalities," he said. 

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Like the start of Ramadan, during which believers abstain from eating and drinking during daylight hours, Eid al-Fitr depends on the sighting of the moon and its celebration varies in different countries. The day begins with early morning prayers and then family visits and feasts.

In the Afghan capital Kabul, families celebrated with a stroll in a central park and children played on a carousel.

"We came here to celebrate Eid because this day is for happiness and all the people want to see happiness. The Afghan people hope to have peace in the country," said Abdul Raziq, a resident of the city.

Elsewhere, thousands of Muslims living in Moscow gathered in and outside the city's grand mosque to pray. Security was high and mounted police patrolled the streets.

The Moscow Cathedral Mosque, which has the capacity to hold 10,000 people, was packed with worshippers, many of whom hail originally from Central Asia.

After Orthodox Christianity, Islam is the second biggest religion in Russia.

"We came to pray and the place is not important. The only place we need is a place to put a rug, to pray to God, to take part in this holiday – this is the most important," said Sivush Veriyev.

Thousands of people packed stadiums in Addis Ababa and Mogadishu and there were also mass prayers in the Nigerian capital Abuja as well as Juba, South Sudan.

In Bangladesh, thousands of people have been scrambling to Dhaka's ferry terminals and stations, packing trains heading out of the city to return to their hometowns for Eid.

In Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan prayed at Istanbul's huge new Camlica mosque, which he formally inaugurated last month.

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The holiday marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan when devout Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. But the start of the holiday varies from country to country – with splits even within the same country – because the start of Eid is traditionally based on sightings of the new moon, which sometimes differ from astronomical calculations and vary according to geographic location.

As with everything else in the Middle East, politics often plays a part with countries that traditionally followed Saudi Arabia's lead breaking with it this year, including the Palestinians and Jordan.

Muslim Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia, as well as Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, announced the first day of Eid is Tuesday, whereas Egypt, Syria, Jordan, the Palestinian territories and others said the Shawwal crescent moon was not visible across the country and won't start until Wednesday.

In Gaza, mosques blared with Eid calls on Monday evening, shortly after Saudi Arabia announced the end of Ramadan, only to be interrupted when the Palestinian grand mufti in Jerusalem said they could not spot the crescent, thus extending Ramadan by one more day.

An Imam at al-Khalidi mosque on the Gaza City beach apologized and told worshippers: "We can't but follow the instructions of our mufti," and asked them to stay in the mosque for the Ramadan night prayer known as Taraweeh.

It was not clear why Gaza did not follow Saudi Arabia's lead, as it usually does. But the change by the local Islamic authorities drew anger, jokes, and criticism on social media. Some posts urged the faithful to wake up in the morning and eat, pretending they did not know the Eid decision had changed.

The holiday traditionally lasts one to three days and is eagerly anticipated after the month of fasting. During Ramadan, the faithful refrain from eating, drinking, smoking or sexual activity from dawn to dusk.

Most businesses close during Eid, as people dress up and visit relatives, enjoying their first daytime meals in a lunar month. Mosques hold special prayers at sunrise and children are often given gifts or a special allowance.

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