GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Several thousand Gaza worshippers knelt on prayer rugs spread on sandy soil, near the perimeter fence with Israel, joining hundreds of millions of Muslims around the world Friday in marking the holiday that caps the fasting month of Ramadan.

The three-day Eid al-Fitr holiday is traditionally a time of family visits and festive meals, with children getting new clothes, haircuts and gifts. In the Middle East, celebrations were once again marred by prolonged conflict in hot spots such as Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen and the Gaza Strip.

In Syria, two people visiting graves of relatives during the holiday were killed in government shelling of a cemetery, activists said. In Yemen, officials said dozens of fighters from a Saudi-led coalition backing an exiled government were killed in fighting over the rebel-held port of Hodeida, the main entry point for food into a country already on the brink of famine.

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