Less than a week after the declaration of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, Operation Pillar of Defense has already left its mark on the people of Gaza, in a rather unexpected way.
Some parents from the Strip have decided to name their newborn babies after operation-affiliated icons – from assassinated Hamas commanders to long-range missiles fired at Israel.
Muhammad al-Shafi'i Abu Nassat named his son, who was born Friday, after the Fajr missile. Naming his baby Fajr, Abu Nassat told Gaza media, was his way of expressing his gratitude to Iran, which was responsible for supplying Gaza with rockets that, according to Abu Nassat "struck the enemy for eight days."
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Amira Abu Assus, from the northern Gaza Strip, also named her child Fajr, Arabic for 'dawn', and says she picked out the name even before she went into labor last week.
She said she knew that the unborn baby would have "a bright future within Palestinian resistance. He would carry the rockets whose names he bears so as to free Palestine from Israeli occupation."
Adham Murtaja of Gaza City decided to name his son, born on Friday, after Ahmed Jabari, the Hamas military chief who was assassinated by the IDF at the onset of Operation Pillar of Defense.
Murtaja said he decided to name his child Ahmed Jabari to prove to Israel that the Jabari assassination did not mean that the Palestinian nation stopped producing heroes.
Meanwhile, Hamas managed to enforce the ceasefire with Israel by imposing Islamic law.
Hamas Ministry of Religious Endowments issued a religious decree (Fatwa) whereby any violation of the ceasefire was forbidden as long as Israel maintained it.
"Violating the ceasefire with Israel is forbidden and irresponsible," the Fatwa stated; "respecting the appeasement is the duty of each and every one of us."
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