Nearly one million Muslims across Australia are marking the end of Ramadan with prayer, family visits and sweets.
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But for many it is a sombre reminder that families and friends in other parts of the world, particularly Gaza, are suffering.
Eid-al-Fitr, or Eid, is one of the most significant celebrations on the Islamic calendar, marking the end of the month-long, dawn-to-dusk fasting month of Ramadan.
Thousands gathered at mosques at dawn on Monday for prayers ahead of day-long celebrations extending for several days.
At one of Australia's largest and most historic mosques in Lakemba in southwest Sydney, children wore their finest Eid clothes while adults greeted each other with hugs and kisses.
Gamel Kheir, secretary of the Lebanese Muslim Association which is the custodian of the mosque, said "the sacrosanct occasion" had been marked by "conflicted feelings" as the onslaught on Gaza continues.
"There's a moral crisis in the community over what we're feeling," he told AAP, fresh from celebrating with extended family feasting on Lebanese savoury delicacies and sweets.
"There's a guilt in celebrating while our brothers and sisters in Gaza are suffering under occupation in the minimum and genocide in the extreme."
The death toll in the blockaded enclave has risen to more than 50,000 killed including 15,000 children after the ceasefire was broken earlier this month in renewed Israeli bombardment with the United Nations calling for more aid to get through.
"Ramadan and Eid this year has a sense of sadness tinged with joy," said Mr Kheir.
NSW Customer Service Minister Jihad Dib, the state's first lower-house Muslim MP, greeted those marking the end of Ramadan at the Lakemba Mosque.
"Ramadan is about giving, togetherness, kindness and looking for people who are vulnerable," he said last week, while praising a cafe putting on free meals for 80 vulnerable women every Monday during the fasting month.
Eid is of increasing importance in Australia, amid a surge in the number of Australians identifying as Muslim.
One in 30 Australians, or 810,000 people, identified as Muslim in the 2021 census, doubling in 15 years.
Australian Associated Press
