Islam's holiest day is marred by grief and peril as Gaza marks Eid al-Adha

Under the damaged dome of al-Albani Mosque in Khan Younis, families stood, some barefoot, on broken stone and dust, raising their voices in takbir to mark the first morning of Eid al-Adha on Friday.

Under the damaged dome of al-Albani Mosque in Khan Younis, families stood, some barefoot, on broken stone and dust, raising their voices in takbir to mark the first morning of Eid al-Adha on Friday.

In Gaza, the holiest of the two major Muslim holidays is traditionally a time for communal worship, the sacrifice of lambs, and shared meals. Families gather around piles of bread baked on the saj and morsels of liver fresh from the slaughter.

But this year in Khan Younis, there was no feast. No lambs to sacrifice. No smell of meat cooking, no joyful reunions. The celebration, stripped of its customs, pressed on in grief.

Girls praying among the ruins in Nuseirat. EYAD BABA / AFP - Getty Images“We don’t eat meat, we don’t eat liver, we are not happy like other times waiting for the Eid with joy,” Eftarag Abou Sabaa told NBC News' team in Khan Younis.

Rather than the ritual sacrifice of a lamb, Abou Sabaa said, “We sacrifice the blood of martyrs. We sacrifice our sons, our daughters, and our mothers; we sacrifice ourselves in a way that sets us apart from other people.”