Crowds of women waving coupons worth 2kg of beef line the stairwell to Secours Islamique France's Gaza City office several hours before the aid agency begins its meat distribution for Aidilahda.

Aid workers struggle to climb the stairs, hauling large bags of fresh meat to assist impoverished families in Gaza this holiday season.

Eid al-Adha (Aidiladha) - the Feast of Sacrifice - that fell on Sunday, is one of the most important holidays in the Muslim calendar. This usually festive season reveals the poverty and desperation still gripping most Palestinians in Gaza.

International NGOs, many Islamic, have been purchasing sheep and cows this week in preparation for massive meat distribution projects across the Gaza Strip to assist the most vulnerable families. Several are providing gifts and warm clothing at the start of Gaza's winter season.

Islamic NGOs are launching 'Qurbani' appeals worldwide. Qurbani refers to the animals (camels, cattle, goats or sheep) sacrificed by Muslim as an obligatory act of worship.

Secours Islamique France (SIF), headquartered in France and part of the global Islamic relief network based in the United Kingdom, is running a large-scale Eid project. In all 3,507 families (24,552 beneficiaries) in five Gaza governorates received 2kg of fresh meat, enough for one to two days.

Osama Abu Warda, 21, from Jabalyah, says he has been searching for work for more than two years while his family of six has slid into poverty.

Osama's older brother died two years ago, leaving his mother and father to care for two additional children. Osama's father, a former labourer inside Israel, is also unemployed.

Can afford meat only once a month

"One kilogramme of beef costs 45 shekels (about RM36). My family can only afford to purchase meat once every month or two," says Osama, waiting in line for the distribution.

"Meat is available in Gaza, but it's too costly for most families to purchase," says SIF's Gaza director, Adel Kaddum. "There is a lack of public assistance programmes to aid families to purchase protein-rich foods."

NONE About 38 percent of Palestinians in Gaza are living below the "poverty line" (defined as RM1,827 a month for a household of two adults and three children), according to

the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).

SIF's Eid programme assists hardship cases, including the unemployed, the elderly (over 60 years), and single-parent families.

Najwa Rabah, 35, from Gaza City and a single parent with two sons, describes this year's Eid as bleak.

"I can't afford to buy beef for my family," says Najwa. "I can only purchase 1kg of chicken per week for 11 shekels (about RM9)," she says.

Aid workers from the UK-based Muslim Hands International purchased 10 cows from Gaza's local market this week for their Eid project, with a budget of RM75,000, to distribute 2kg of fresh meat to 2,500 Gaza families.

About 66 percent of households in Gaza are food insecure, or vulnerable to food insecurity, reports the World Food Programme (WFP).

While an additional range of food products is entering Gaza through the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing (Gaza's only commercial crossing), the average family's lack of

purchasing power puts these food commodities out of their reach.

The flow of food commodities entering Gaza via underground tunnels along the Gaza-Egypt border has also increased, but is too costly for most families in Gaza, where unemployment hovers at 26 percent.

Data collected from 20 health centres operated by the UN Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa) in Gaza, as part of the Agency's larger growth monitoring system for children, indicates that five percent of children up to three years old showed signs of growth retardation (underweight, stunting and wasting) in 2010, reports Unrwa's health programme chief Dr Mohamed Maqadma.

That figure has doubled since 2005, says Maqadma. "Children in Gaza do not have access to foods that meet growth needs," he says.

1.6 million in Gaza are refugees

About 1.1 million Palestinians in Gaza, out of a total 1.6 million, are registered refuges. Over 50 percent of the population is under 18.

Israel tightened its blockade on Gaza in June 2007 after Hamas seized power. Hamas garnered a majority in the last Palestinian legislative council elections held in 2006, but is still branded a terror organisation by most Western countries due to its refusal to recognise Israel.

The recent escalation of violence between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in Gaza, which claimed the lives of one Israeli civilian and 12 members of Islamic Jihad's armed ing, underscored the fragility of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Hamas is not firing rockets into Israel, but must be careful in how it clamps down on militant groups in Gaza.

Humanitarian indicators for Gaza's population are very similar to those that existed when Israel commenced Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, ending it in January 2009, according to the acting director of Unrwa operations in Gaza, Christer Nordahl.

"If the violence is extended and the borders are closed for a few weeks, cutting off Unrwa's supply chain, this could have a great humanitarian impact," Nordahl told IPS.

There is only one crossing point, Kerem Shalom (along the Gaza-Israel border), where Unrwa can send in humanitarian supplies, such as food commodities, medical supplies and fuel.

Unrwa generally has between two to four weeks worth of fuel supply in stock.

The agency is prohibited from purchasing fuel and other materials from the local market, most of which enter Gaza via underground tunnels along the Gaza-Egypt border.

In an emergency, Egypt could allow humanitarian supplies to enter Gaza via Rafah crossing (along the Gaza-Egypt border). Unrwa has been told by the Egyptian government that there is no intention to change the Rafah border regime before a new government is in place.

Egyptian officials said last week that Egypt will not allow another major Israeli operation against Gaza.

Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, who held office during Operation Cast Lead, was ousted from power in January this year.

Hakma Suliman, a single parent from Dier al-Balah, waits anxiously outside SIF's Gaza City office with her four-year old daughter. Her husband was killed in 2009 during Israel's peration, leaving Hakma to support her family of six.

"I am unemployed and I can't provide for my family, especially during the Eid," says Hakma, clutching her coupon.

- IPS