INTERNATIONAL: In War-Torn Gaza, Mass Weddings Bring Rare Joy
In the battered streets of Khan Younis, southern Gaza, 54 couples exchanged vows on December 2, 2025, in a mass wedding that cut through the fog of two years of conflict.
Crowds waved Palestinian flags as grooms in suits and brides in embroidered thobes paraded past shattered homes, a fleeting parade of color against gray devastation.
Dubbed “The Dress of Joy,” the event marked one of the first large gatherings since hostilities paused, blending tradition with raw survival.
Traditions Tested by War
Palestinian weddings long served as vibrant anchors, multi-day feasts weaving family threads with dances and feasts under open skies.
But since October 2023, these rites have faded into memory, halted by relentless shelling and displacement that uprooted entire clans.
Now, with a fragile truce holding, such ceremonies flicker back, simpler yet stubborn symbols of continuity in a land where joy feels like defiance.
Backed by Distant Hands
The Al Fares Al Shahim Foundation, a UAE-supported aid group, footed the bill and handed out modest cash stipends plus basics like tents and kitchen kits to ease the couples’ starts.
Organizers aimed not just at celebration but at stitching normalcy into daily scars, offering tools for tents over dreams of homes.
This support echoes broader efforts to knit aid into cultural lifelines amid ongoing shortages.
A Couple’s Quiet Reckoning
Among the newlyweds stood 27-year-old Hikmat Lawwa and Eman Hassan Lawwa, distant kin who fled to Deir al-Balah when bombs chased them from their roots.
They spoke of scavenging for scraps, of shelters that barely held against rains or raids, and of the ache of graves for lost kin. “We crave the world’s simple happiness, a roof, steady work,” Hikmat shared, voice cracking. “War stripped it all. Rebuilding? It’s from tents now, not the life we sketched.”
Echoes of Irreversible Loss
Eman wiped tears recounting her parents and siblings gone in the crossfire, their absence a shadow over the henna and hymns. “Joy after such voids? It stings,” she admitted, yet vowed to lay bricks anew with her husband.
Their story mirrors countless others, where unions born in crisis carry the weight of vanished futures, turning personal vows into quiet acts of collective endurance.
The Truce’s Tentative Grip
A U.S.-brokered ceasefire took hold in October 2025, easing bombardments enough for these breaths of normalcy, though sporadic clashes persist.
Mediated by Qatar, Egypt, and others, it swapped hostages for prisoners and pledged aid surges, yet reports tally near-daily breaches, from drone strikes to access blocks.
As talks inch toward permanence, this wedding stands as a fragile bet on peace’s return.
Scars That Linger in the Sand
Gaza’s toll defies tallies: over 70,000 dead, cities pulverized into 61 million tons of rubble, and nearly all 2 million souls uprooted at least once.
Aid trickles in fits, with famine’s edge sharpening hunger for half the population, per UN tallies. Key strains include:
- Insecurity: Acute food insecurity is gripping 100% of northern zones.
- Water is rationed to under six liters daily for a million.
- Over 87% of land is under evacuation or militarized orders.
These weddings, then, aren’t just parties; they’re protests against erasure, fragile flags staked in the dust.