Israeli attacks targeted religious leaders and destroyed most mosques, reshaping holy month traditions
GAZA CITY — The Muslim holy month of Ramadan has arrived in the Gaza Strip without hundreds of imams, preachers and Quran teachers who were killed during the Israeli war, leaving hundreds of mosques in ruins and altering traditions Palestinians long associated with the fasting month.
Palestinians say they miss the imams who once led prayers, delivered Friday sermons and offered religious lessons that shaped both spiritual and social life in the enclave.
Residents now pray in wooden and plastic tents erected atop or beside the rubble of destroyed mosques, or inside partially damaged buildings with cracked walls.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs, Israel killed 312 preachers, imams, religious instructors and Quran teachers during Israel’s two-year war and destroyed 1,050 out of 1,275 mosques completely and 191 partially.
The war in Gaza has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, wounded over 171,000, and damaged about 90% of civilian infrastructure, Palestinian figures showed.
Despite the truce, Israeli forces have committed hundreds of violations through shelling and gunfire, killing 615 Palestinians and injuring 1,651 others, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Religious identity
Ismail Al-Thawabteh, director general of Gaza’s Government Media Office, said Israel targeted “religious and social symbols who played a pivotal role in preaching, guidance, strengthening social peace and reinforcing spiritual values.”
“This Ramadan, the Palestinian people are missing dozens of voices that once revived its nights and filled its mosques with reverence and faith,” he told Anadolu.
Thawabteh said 20 members of Gaza’s Christian community were also killed after Israel targeted Christian houses of worship in the territory.
He estimated direct preliminary losses to the religious sector at about $1 billion and said cemeteries were also “bulldozed and targeted.”
“Despite the heavy losses, Palestinians continue to perform their prayers and observe their rituals in the remaining mosques or in shelters and tents, affirming their adherence to their right to worship and practice their religious rites guaranteed under international humanitarian law,” he said.
Targeting clergy and houses of worship constitutes “a blatant violation of international law and a direct assault on the special protections afforded to religious sites,” Thawabteh said.
Israel’s targeting of religious and symbolic infrastructure “will not succeed in breaking the will of the people or erasing their civilizational and religious identity,” he said.
Prominent scholars killed
Anadolu identified several leading scholars killed during the Israeli war:
Yousef Salama
One of Palestine’s prominent religious scholars, Salama began his career as a teacher and imam before holding administrative posts at Gaza’s Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs, eventually serving as minister from 2005 to 2006.
Salama also served as a preacher at Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem for 10 years, from 1997 to 2007, and was deputy head of the Islamic Supreme Council in Jerusalem during that period.
An Israeli airstrike targeted his home in the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, killing him on Dec. 31, 2023.
Wael Al-Zard
Al-Zard served as imam of the Great Omari Mosque in Gaza City and Al-Mahatta Mosque in the Al-Daraj neighborhood.
Zard worked as a university professor at the University College of Applied Sciences and previously taught at Al-Quds Open University and the Islamic University of Gaza.
He earned a master’s degree in Hadith studies in 2001 and later received a doctorate from Egypt’s Ain Shams University.
Israel targeted his home in Gaza City on Oct. 13, 2023. He died of his wounds two days later.
Walid Owaida
Owaida was a member of the Palestinian branch of the International Union of Muslim Scholars and director general of Quran memorization at Gaza’s Ministry of Endowments.
He earned a doctorate in Hadith and its sciences and left “a mark in spreading Islamic knowledge and guiding generations toward Islamic values,” according to a previous union statement.
An Israeli strike hit his home in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City, killing him on Nov. 12, 2024.
Nael Masran
Masran was known for sermons urging Palestinians to remain patient and steadfast throughout the Israeli war before he and his family were killed when an Israeli strike targeted his tent in Khan Younis in southern Gaza on May 30, 2025.
Masran earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering before studying Islamic law and later receiving a doctorate in the principles of Islamic jurisprudence. — Anadolu Agency
