In a gesture of compassion and solidarity, Christian residents struggling to survive in the war-ravaged Syrian city of Aleppo are providing food to even poorer Muslim families in their neighbourhood as they observe the Islamic month of Ramadan.
Members of the Syriac Orthodox Archdiocese of Aleppo are offering breakfast and evening meals to "the poorest Muslim families" living in the predominantly Christian and Armenian Sulaimaniyah neighborhood of the city, according to Agenzia Fides, the information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies.
The food, which is prepared by Christian families, is distributed to needy Muslim residents at the archdiocese's Cathedral of St. Ephrem the Syrian.
During Ramadan, Muslims are prohibited from taking food and drinks during daylight hours as part of the practices to commemorate the revelation of the Quran to Islam's Prophet Muhammad.
During this fasting month, which ends on July 5, Muslims can only partake of food and drinks before dawn and after sunset.
The Syriac Orthodox archdiocese said in a statement that the sharing of food to poor Muslims is a simple gesture aimed at expressing Christian solidarity with the city's Muslim residents.
The archdiocese said it hopes that in time, the gesture will help restore the peaceful coexistence that existed among Syria's various religious and ethnic communities before the war.
Aleppo is Syria's largest city with a pre-war population of 2.3 million, but the population has now dwindled to around 1 million, according to the Catholic News Agency.
The Syrian civil war, which began in the spring of 2011, reached Aleppo in July 2012, splitting the city into government- and rebel-controlled sectors.
Earlier this month, three hospitals in the rebel-held part of the city were hit by air strikes, presumably from forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The Syrian civil war has claimed the lives of more than 270,000 people, with the death toll still rising.
More than 4.6 million Syrians have fled their country and are now refugees in other countries.
