'EID OF SADNESS' IN RUINS OF GAZA

Israeli strikes kill at least 19 people on holy day in renewed onslaught

- KEITH FALKINER

PALESTINIANS in Gaza had little to celebrate yesterday as they marked Eid al-Fitr.

Israeli strikes killed at least 19 people, mostly women and children, health officials said.

Many prayed outside demolished mosques on the holiday marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

It's meant to be an occasion when families feast and buy new clothes for children, but most of Gaza's 2million people are just trying to survive.

"It's the Eid of sadness," Adel al-Shaer said after attending prayers amid rubble in the central town of Deir al-Balah. "We lost our loved ones, our children, our lives and our futures." Twenty members of his extended family have been killed by Israeli strikes, including four young nephews a few days ago, he said.