AP PHOTOS: Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr, amid a month of conflict
A woman carries a cross during a pilgrimage to pray that the Pacaya volcano decreases its activity in San Vicente Pacaya, Guatemala, Wednesday, May 5, 2021. The volcano, just south of the capital, has been active since early February. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Coptic Orthodox deacon pray during Easter mass, at Holy Cross Church in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, May 1, 2021. Orthodox Christians around the world celebrate Easter on Sunday, May 2. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)
Rubble of a destroyed building scatters the ground after it was hit last week by Israeli airstrikes, in Gaza City, Saturday, May 22, 2021. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
An Orthodox Church sits with a radar facility in the background on the Alexandra Land island near Nagurskoye, Russia, Monday, May 17, 2021. Bristling with missiles and radar, Russia’s northernmost military base projects the country’s power and influence across the Arctic from a remote, desolate island amid an intensifying international competition for the region’s vast resources. Russia’s northernmost military outpost sits on the 80th parallel North, projecting power over wide swathes of Arctic amid an intensifying international rivalry over the polar region’s vast resources. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
People sit and wait, Monday, May 17, 2021, at a COVID-19 vaccination clinic at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Canonsburg, Pa., which featured laser beams and music. George Dodworth, of Lightwave International, helped set up the vaccination site and decided to add lasers and music to try to make it more fun and ease some of the apprehension and anxiety younger groups might feel while getting the vaccine. (Emily Matthews/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)
Mourners attend the funeral of Yigal Yehoshua, 56, at a cemetery in Hadid, central Israel, Tuesday, May 18, 2021. Yehoshua died of wounds sustained in when his car was pelted with rocks during Israeli Arab riots in the Israeli city of Lod on May 11. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Priests from the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church lead the procession during a Sunday morning service at the Church of St. Mary in Mekele, in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia Sunday, May 9, 2021. The head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Abune Mathias, in a video shot last month on a mobile phone and carried out of Ethiopia, sharply criticized Ethiopia’s actions in the conflict in the country’s Tigray region. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Priests attend a religion procession celebrating Orthodox Easter at the Iversky Monastery a monastery of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) damaged by shelling, outside Donetsk, Ukraine, Tuesday, May 4, 2021. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov)
A girl is tossed into the air as people gather for Eid al-Fitr prayers at the Dome of the Rock Mosque in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem, Thursday, May 13, 2021. Eid al-Fitr, festival of breaking of the fast, marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Bangladeshi Muslims offer Eid al-Fitr prayers inside the Baitul Mukarram Mosque in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, May 14, 2021. Eid al-Fitr, festival of breaking of the fast, marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
Emily Baumgartner, left, and Luke Finley, second from left, join friends from their church group in a birthday toast to one of the members, upper right, during their weekly “Monday Night Hang” gathering at the Tiki Bar on Manhattan’s Upper West Side Monday, May 17, 2021, in New York. “Most of us live alone. and we need community. During the pandemic, we started hanging out in the park (Central Park) once a week. Once bars and restaurants reopened, we started coming back to Tiki Bar afterward. Under the latest regulations, vaccinated New Yorkers can shed their masks in most situations Wednesday. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
Palestinians clash with Israeli security forces at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City Monday, May 10, 2021. Israeli police clashed with Palestinian protesters at a flashpoint Jerusalem holy site on Monday. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Muslim gather during Eid al-Fitr prayer marking the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan on a street in Bekasi, West Java, Indonesia, Thursday, May 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)
Relatives in protective suits stand next to the burning pyre of a person who died of COVID-19, at a crematorium in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, May 25, 2021. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
People ride on a horse back during a Durbar festival to celebrate Eid al-Fitr and the end of Ramadan in Zazzau , Nigeria, Saturday, May 15, 2021. (AP Photo/Fati Abubakar)
Muslim girls display their hands painted with traditional henna to celebrate Eid al-Fitr holidays, marking on the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, in Peshawar, Pakistan, Thursday, May 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)
Israeli police stand guard as Palestinian Muslims break their fast during the holy month of Ramadan and Jewish settlers gather to begin Shabbat at a Palestinian house occupied by settlers, in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of east Jerusalem, Friday, May 7, 2021. Dozens of Palestinian families in east Jerusalem are at risk of losing their homes to Jewish settler groups following a decades-long legal battle. The threatened evictions have sparked weeks of protests and clashes in recent days, adding to the tensions in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
A Catholic nun is inoculated with AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish Church that turned into a temporary vaccination center in Quezon City, Philippines on Friday, May 21, 2021. Philippine officials have been ordered not to disclose in advance the COVID-19 vaccine brands to be administered in immunization sites after those offering newly arrived Pfizer shots drew big crowds in what could be an indication of public preference for Western vaccines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
A Kashmiri Muslim walks towards a mosque during sunset in Srinagar, India, Friday, May 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
A boy prays before taking a swim in the Moroccan northern town of Fnideq, near the border of Morocco and Spain, at the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, on Tuesday, May 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)
A woman carries a cross during a pilgrimage to pray that the Pacaya volcano decreases its activity in San Vicente Pacaya, Guatemala, Wednesday, May 5, 2021. The volcano, just south of the capital, has been active since early February. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
A woman carries a cross during a pilgrimage to pray that the Pacaya volcano decreases its activity in San Vicente Pacaya, Guatemala, Wednesday, May 5, 2021. The volcano, just south of the capital, has been active since early February. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Coptic Orthodox deacon pray during Easter mass, at Holy Cross Church in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, May 1, 2021. Orthodox Christians around the world celebrate Easter on Sunday, May 2. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)
Rubble of a destroyed building scatters the ground after it was hit last week by Israeli airstrikes, in Gaza City, Saturday, May 22, 2021. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
An Orthodox Church sits with a radar facility in the background on the Alexandra Land island near Nagurskoye, Russia, Monday, May 17, 2021. Bristling with missiles and radar, Russia’s northernmost military base projects the country’s power and influence across the Arctic from a remote, desolate island amid an intensifying international competition for the region’s vast resources. Russia’s northernmost military outpost sits on the 80th parallel North, projecting power over wide swathes of Arctic amid an intensifying international rivalry over the polar region’s vast resources. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
An Orthodox Church sits with a radar facility in the background on the Alexandra Land island near Nagurskoye, Russia, Monday, May 17, 2021. Bristling with missiles and radar, Russia’s northernmost military base projects the country’s power and influence across the Arctic from a remote, desolate island amid an intensifying international competition for the region’s vast resources. Russia’s northernmost military outpost sits on the 80th parallel North, projecting power over wide swathes of Arctic amid an intensifying international rivalry over the polar region’s vast resources. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
People sit and wait, Monday, May 17, 2021, at a COVID-19 vaccination clinic at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Canonsburg, Pa., which featured laser beams and music. George Dodworth, of Lightwave International, helped set up the vaccination site and decided to add lasers and music to try to make it more fun and ease some of the apprehension and anxiety younger groups might feel while getting the vaccine. (Emily Matthews/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)
People sit and wait, Monday, May 17, 2021, at a COVID-19 vaccination clinic at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Canonsburg, Pa., which featured laser beams and music. George Dodworth, of Lightwave International, helped set up the vaccination site and decided to add lasers and music to try to make it more fun and ease some of the apprehension and anxiety younger groups might feel while getting the vaccine. (Emily Matthews/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)
Mourners attend the funeral of Yigal Yehoshua, 56, at a cemetery in Hadid, central Israel, Tuesday, May 18, 2021. Yehoshua died of wounds sustained in when his car was pelted with rocks during Israeli Arab riots in the Israeli city of Lod on May 11. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Mourners attend the funeral of Yigal Yehoshua, 56, at a cemetery in Hadid, central Israel, Tuesday, May 18, 2021. Yehoshua died of wounds sustained in when his car was pelted with rocks during Israeli Arab riots in the Israeli city of Lod on May 11. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Priests from the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church lead the procession during a Sunday morning service at the Church of St. Mary in Mekele, in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia Sunday, May 9, 2021. The head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Abune Mathias, in a video shot last month on a mobile phone and carried out of Ethiopia, sharply criticized Ethiopia’s actions in the conflict in the country’s Tigray region. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Priests from the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church lead the procession during a Sunday morning service at the Church of St. Mary in Mekele, in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia Sunday, May 9, 2021. The head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Abune Mathias, in a video shot last month on a mobile phone and carried out of Ethiopia, sharply criticized Ethiopia’s actions in the conflict in the country’s Tigray region. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Priests attend a religion procession celebrating Orthodox Easter at the Iversky Monastery a monastery of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) damaged by shelling, outside Donetsk, Ukraine, Tuesday, May 4, 2021. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov)
Priests attend a religion procession celebrating Orthodox Easter at the Iversky Monastery a monastery of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) damaged by shelling, outside Donetsk, Ukraine, Tuesday, May 4, 2021. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov)
A girl is tossed into the air as people gather for Eid al-Fitr prayers at the Dome of the Rock Mosque in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem, Thursday, May 13, 2021. Eid al-Fitr, festival of breaking of the fast, marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
A girl is tossed into the air as people gather for Eid al-Fitr prayers at the Dome of the Rock Mosque in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem, Thursday, May 13, 2021. Eid al-Fitr, festival of breaking of the fast, marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Bangladeshi Muslims offer Eid al-Fitr prayers inside the Baitul Mukarram Mosque in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, May 14, 2021. Eid al-Fitr, festival of breaking of the fast, marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
Bangladeshi Muslims offer Eid al-Fitr prayers inside the Baitul Mukarram Mosque in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, May 14, 2021. Eid al-Fitr, festival of breaking of the fast, marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
Emily Baumgartner, left, and Luke Finley, second from left, join friends from their church group in a birthday toast to one of the members, upper right, during their weekly “Monday Night Hang” gathering at the Tiki Bar on Manhattan’s Upper West Side Monday, May 17, 2021, in New York. “Most of us live alone. and we need community. During the pandemic, we started hanging out in the park (Central Park) once a week. Once bars and restaurants reopened, we started coming back to Tiki Bar afterward. Under the latest regulations, vaccinated New Yorkers can shed their masks in most situations Wednesday. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
Emily Baumgartner, left, and Luke Finley, second from left, join friends from their church group in a birthday toast to one of the members, upper right, during their weekly “Monday Night Hang” gathering at the Tiki Bar on Manhattan’s Upper West Side Monday, May 17, 2021, in New York. “Most of us live alone. and we need community. During the pandemic, we started hanging out in the park (Central Park) once a week. Once bars and restaurants reopened, we started coming back to Tiki Bar afterward. Under the latest regulations, vaccinated New Yorkers can shed their masks in most situations Wednesday. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
Palestinians clash with Israeli security forces at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City Monday, May 10, 2021. Israeli police clashed with Palestinian protesters at a flashpoint Jerusalem holy site on Monday. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Palestinians clash with Israeli security forces at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City Monday, May 10, 2021. Israeli police clashed with Palestinian protesters at a flashpoint Jerusalem holy site on Monday. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Muslim gather during Eid al-Fitr prayer marking the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan on a street in Bekasi, West Java, Indonesia, Thursday, May 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)
Relatives in protective suits stand next to the burning pyre of a person who died of COVID-19, at a crematorium in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, May 25, 2021. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
People ride on a horse back during a Durbar festival to celebrate Eid al-Fitr and the end of Ramadan in Zazzau , Nigeria, Saturday, May 15, 2021. (AP Photo/Fati Abubakar)
Muslim girls display their hands painted with traditional henna to celebrate Eid al-Fitr holidays, marking on the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, in Peshawar, Pakistan, Thursday, May 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)
Muslim girls display their hands painted with traditional henna to celebrate Eid al-Fitr holidays, marking on the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, in Peshawar, Pakistan, Thursday, May 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)
Israeli police stand guard as Palestinian Muslims break their fast during the holy month of Ramadan and Jewish settlers gather to begin Shabbat at a Palestinian house occupied by settlers, in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of east Jerusalem, Friday, May 7, 2021. Dozens of Palestinian families in east Jerusalem are at risk of losing their homes to Jewish settler groups following a decades-long legal battle. The threatened evictions have sparked weeks of protests and clashes in recent days, adding to the tensions in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
Israeli police stand guard as Palestinian Muslims break their fast during the holy month of Ramadan and Jewish settlers gather to begin Shabbat at a Palestinian house occupied by settlers, in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of east Jerusalem, Friday, May 7, 2021. Dozens of Palestinian families in east Jerusalem are at risk of losing their homes to Jewish settler groups following a decades-long legal battle. The threatened evictions have sparked weeks of protests and clashes in recent days, adding to the tensions in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
A Catholic nun is inoculated with AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish Church that turned into a temporary vaccination center in Quezon City, Philippines on Friday, May 21, 2021. Philippine officials have been ordered not to disclose in advance the COVID-19 vaccine brands to be administered in immunization sites after those offering newly arrived Pfizer shots drew big crowds in what could be an indication of public preference for Western vaccines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
A Catholic nun is inoculated with AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish Church that turned into a temporary vaccination center in Quezon City, Philippines on Friday, May 21, 2021. Philippine officials have been ordered not to disclose in advance the COVID-19 vaccine brands to be administered in immunization sites after those offering newly arrived Pfizer shots drew big crowds in what could be an indication of public preference for Western vaccines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
A Kashmiri Muslim walks towards a mosque during sunset in Srinagar, India, Friday, May 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
A boy prays before taking a swim in the Moroccan northern town of Fnideq, near the border of Morocco and Spain, at the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, on Tuesday, May 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)
Intricate henna designs on the hands of Muslim girls in Peshawar, Pakistan. Horseback riders atop colorfully festooned steeds in Zazzau, Nigeria. A child tossed into the air at the Dome of the Rock Mosque in Jerusalem.
These are some of the ways the world’s Muslims celebrated the Eid al-Fitr festival in mid-May bringing an end to Ramadan, the holy month of fasting, as captured by AP photographers around the globe.
Inside a multi-story mosque in Dhaka, Bangladesh, worshippers solemnly made Eid al-Fitr appeals above prayer mats on the floor. In Bekasi, Indonesia, women wearing face masks to ward off transmission of the coronavirus knelt on a street, some of them clutching small children, as a train whooshed by steps away.
The joyous observations contrasted, however, with the sorrow and suffering from an 11-day war that erupted between Israel and the Gaza Strip’s militant Hamas rulers – a conflict also reflected in striking AP images.
In Jerusalem’s Old City, a smoky haze filled the air at the compound of the sacred Al-Aqsa mosque as Palestinian protesters and Israeli security forces faced off in just one day of weeks of clashes over Israel’s policing of the area during Ramadan and threatened evictions.
And in east Jerusalem, where dozens of families were at risk of losing their homes to Jewish settlers, Palestinian Muslims broke their Ramadan fast together at tables in a street as Jewish settlers gathered nearby to begin Shabbat at an occupied house. Israeli police stood guard between the two groups amid the rising pre-war tensions.
More than 250 people were killed before a cease-fire was reached, as Hamas launched rockets and Israel responded with powerful airstrikes. Most of the damage and death came on the Palestinian side, but there was also grieving among Jews.
In Hadid, central Israel, funeral mourners gazed at the shrouded body of a 56-year-old man who died of wounds sustained when his car was pelted with rocks during Israeli Arab riots.
Early May also witnessed celebrations of Easter by Orthodox Christians.
In Cairo, a young girl clung to the leg of a Coptic Orthodox deacon during Mass marking the holy day. And near Donetsk, Ukraine, priests walked in a procession outside a monastery heavily damaged by shelling.
These and more are among the AP’s top faith-related images published in May.
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