BBC Homepage
  • Skip to content
  • Accessibility Help
  • Your account
  • Notifications
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • More menu
More menu
Search BBC
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
Close menu
BBC News
Menu
  • Home
  • InDepth
  • Israel-Gaza war
  • War in Ukraine
  • Climate
  • UK
  • World
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Culture
More
  • Tech
  • Science
  • Health
  • Family & Education
  • In Pictures
  • Newsbeat
  • BBC Verify
  • Disability
  • BBC Trending

Syrian town breaks Ramadan fast with Iftar among rubble

  • Published
    19 June 2017
Share page
About sharing
Children sit at a table as they wait for Iftar, evening meal at the end of daily Ramadan fast at sunset, next to rubble and destroyed houses, which were damaged after air strikes, in Douma, Syria, 17 June 2017.Image source, European Photopress Agency
Image caption,

Residents in the besieged, rebel-held town of Douma gather outside for an Iftar meal

By Lamia Estatie
BBC News

Striking images have been shared online showing residents in the besieged town of Douma - a suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus - taking part in an Iftar feast on a colourful table surrounded by grey destruction and rubble.

The outdoor gathering for residents was organised by the Syrian Adaleh Foundation, external, founded in 2012 to aid affected areas in rebel-held Eastern Ghouta. The group meals will run for the duration of the last 10 days of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

"We would have normally been cautious to host such events due to air strikes, but we are taking advantage of the latest de-escalation deal," an official from the humanitarian foundation's Turkey bureau told the BBC.

Food prices in Syria are hugely inflated due to the conflict. The food for the Iftar - the meal when Muslims end their daily fast during Ramadan - was prepared in other parts of Eastern Ghouta and brought into Douma, which has been besieged for four years, the official said.

Last month, an aid convoy entered the town for the first time, external since October 2016. The rebel-held suburb of Douma is controlled by the rebel group Jaysh al-Islam, and has repeatedly been attacked by Syrian government forces with air strikes and barrel bombs in the last few years.

People wait for Iftar, evening meal at the end of daily Ramadan fast at sunset, next to rubble and destroyed houses, which were damaged after air strikes, in Douma, Syria, 17 June 2017.Image source, European Photopress Agency
Image caption,

Some who shared the images online said they showed "life despite death"

One resident of the town who attended the mass Iftar said several hundred people were present, external and that they previously would have had such meals "hidden in mosques, fearing strikes".

"I don't know how emotionally confused I would be if I were in the shoes of anyone inside, " said a Syrian medical technologist who tweeted, external the photos, calling the scene "Life despite death today in Douma."

You might also like:

  • Meet the eight-year-old who's after David Attenborough's job

  • How quilting got ripped apart by American politics

  • Memes mock Twitter's major redesign

One Twitter user dubbed the meal an "Iftar of heroes, external".

"Despite the difficult circumstances, these people hang on to life and teach lessons in perseverance," another added, external.

Syrian residents of the rebel-held town of Douma, on the outskirts of the capital Damascus, break their fast with the "iftar" meal on a heavily damaged street on June 18, 2017, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.Image source, AFP/Getty Images
Image caption,

The rebel-held town has been subject to attacks by Syrian government forces

Prominent Syrian journalists, including Turkey-based Hadi Abdallah, external and London-based Mousa al-Omar, external wished good health to those breaking fast, sharing the images which gained thousands of reactions online.

Several accounts indicated, external some of the children in attendance were Syrian orphans.

Syrian residents of the rebel-held town of Douma, on the outskirts of the capital Damascus, break their fast with the "iftar" meal on a heavily damaged street on June 18, 2017, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.Image source, AFP/Getty Images
Image caption,

The meal took place despite food prices across Syria surging due to the conflict

By the UGC and Social News team

You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending, external, and find us on Facebook, external. All our stories are at bbc.com/trending.

More on this story

  • 'Staggering' civilian toll in strikes on IS

    • Published
      14 June 2017
    A child cries at a camp for displaced people in Ain Issa, Syria (10 June 2017)
  • How my home became a lifesaver during the Aleppo siege. Video, 00:01:38How my home became a lifesaver during the Aleppo siege

    • Published
      13 June 2017
    1:38
    Courtyard house, Aleppo
  • New pictures of bloodied Aleppo boy

    • Published
      6 June 2017
    Photographs showing Omar Daqneesh after a reported air strike in Aleppo in August 2016, and in his home in Aleppo in June 2017

Top stories

  • Live. 

    Israel commits to daily pauses in fighting as six more malnutrition deaths reported in Gaza

    • 3442 viewing3.4k viewing
  • 'We need a real solution': Gazans welcome aid plan but fear it will not end crisis

    • Published
      2 hours ago
  • Greece battles wildfires, evacuating residents near Athens

    • Published
      9 hours ago

More to explore

  • 'We need a real solution': Gazans welcome aid plan but fear it will not end crisis

    A Palestinian woman carries a bag of food on her head in Rafah, Gaza. She is wearing a black outfit and black headscarf. Behind her is a boy and other people.
  • Why I'm not paying into a pension

    Mohaimen with a big smile looking at the camera, wearing a cotton printed shirt which is both striped and has flower images on it.
  • Feeling tense? Here's how to survive the final with your nerves intact

    A woman in a blue England T-shirt holds her hands in the prayer position surrounded by fans in Boxpark, Croydon, London, in a particularly tense moment during the semi-final between England and Italy
  • Lucky mugs and vintage shirts: England fans share their matchday rituals

    A woman wearing glasses is drawing a red and white England flag on her right cheek in face paint while looking at her reflection on her mobile phone.
  • The make-believe festival boasting Glastonbury headliners planned by a convicted fraudster

    James Kenny is standing sideways in front of a blue and purple promotional screen at the National Television Awards, with the NTA branding behind him. He is a white man with short grey, thinning hair who is smiling and holding his hand up to his chin in a comedic way. He is wearing a blue jumper, square glasses and a NTA lanyard.
  • Screams and chaos: The moments after Bangladesh fighter jet hit a primary school

    Ahnaf
  • The last custodian: A Kashmiri artisan's battle to save a musical legacy

    A man wearing a black shirt and a white skull cap with black glasses looks into the camera. There are posters and wooden cutouts hanging on a wall in the background
  • How reality TV changed the way we think - for the better

    A treated image showing an old TV screen with a close up eye
  • Why we need to talk about periods, breasts and injuries in women's sport

    Chloe running towards the camera with her arms to her sides, wearing white shorts and white sports bra with her England shirt twirled up in her right hand, screaming with joy, blonde hair flying
loading elsewhere stories

Most read

  1. 1

    Astronomer's 'clever' PR move embracing CEO scandal - featuring Gwyneth Paltrow

  2. 2

    Why I'm not paying into a pension

  3. 3

    Does this look like a real woman? AI Vogue model raises concerns about beauty standards

  4. 4

    Plans for pubs to get greater protection from noise complaints

  5. 5

    Greece battles wildfires, evacuating residents near Athens

  6. 6

    Trump back on the golf course for day two of Scottish visit

  7. 7

    Investigating one of the UK's most abusive cults

  8. 8

    The make-believe festival boasting Glastonbury headliners planned by a convicted fraudster

  9. 9

    Thailand and Cambodia thank Trump for mediation, but shelling continues

  10. 10

    Screams and chaos: The moments after Bangladesh fighter jet hit a primary school

BBC News Services

  • On your mobile
  • On smart speakers
  • Get news alerts
  • Contact BBC News

Best of the BBC

  • New drama from writer Jimmy McGovern

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Unforgivable
  • The Bafta award-winning comedy returns

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Such Brave Girls
  • An epic road trip across Vietnam

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Top Gear
  • Amol Rajan and Billy Bragg chat politics

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Radical with Amol Rajan
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • Terms of Use
  • About the BBC
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
  • Accessibility Help
  • Parental Guidance
  • Contact the BBC
  • Make an editorial complaint
  • BBC emails for you

Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.