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In light of the continuation of the Israeli war, the young Palestinian man, Abdul Latif Abu Taima (27 years old), held a simple and modest wedding ceremony in a displacement camp in the Rafah governorate, south of the Gaza Strip.

Abu Taima insisted on holding his wedding to his bride, Waad Abu Jama’, inside a small tent in the presence of their families, despite months of the Israeli war on the besieged Gaza Strip.

The displaced groom from the town of Bani Suhaila, east of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, says, "We hoped that the war would end, that life would return to being better than it was, and that we would complete our wedding, but the war took a long time."

The newlyweds got married on August 13, and had planned to hold their wedding on November 6 or 7, but the outbreak of the Israeli war and the fall of thousands of martyrs forced them to postpone the ceremony and organize it modestly, out of consideration for the feelings of the families of the victims.

Abu Taima added, "Six months have passed and we have not had the opportunity to organize a wedding, but we decided to have a simple celebration despite the war."

Dreams and fantasies

The newlyweds' dreams turned into illusions after they planned to live in a happy home that they would prepare with the necessary furniture. Abu Ta'imah said, "The dream of any groom is to live in an apartment that he owns, but the war did not leave a house, place, or furniture intact. It did not leave anything suitable for life."

Referring to the establishment of a small tent with an area not exceeding 6 square metres, the groom hoped that relief would come soon with the end of the war, the return of the displaced to their homes, and the start of reconstruction and the return of weddings.

Abdul Latif and Waad got married after a long wait (Anatolia)

He explained that he and his bride "do not have enough clothes or bedding, and even if they were found in the markets, "the prices are very high, forcing them to make ends meet with what is available."

The groom stressed that "everyone is going through difficult circumstances, including a food and water shortage crisis, and challenges and obstacles imposed by the ongoing war since the seventh of last October."

Life inside a tent

The Palestinians in the Gaza Strip face the danger of hunger and thirst, especially children, as Israel prevents sufficient aid from entering, as part of a “genocidal” war it is waging against the Strip.

The bride also dreamed of wearing a white wedding dress among her friends and well-wishers, but the war prevented her from doing so. Waad says, “I dreamed of all the preparations for my wedding like any girl, and I dreamed of getting married in an independent apartment and not in a tent.”

Al-Arousa hopes that the Israeli war will stop “as soon as possible and that the reconstruction of what the Israeli army destroyed will begin immediately.”

The newlyweds live in a tent no larger than 6 square meters (Anatolia)

During the past months, many schools in different areas of the Gaza Strip witnessed marriage ceremonies for displaced Palestinians, as the continuation of the war for a long period forced them to resort to this step.

As a result of the war and Israeli restrictions, the residents of Gaza, especially the Gaza and North governorates, are on the verge of famine, in light of a severe scarcity of food, water, medicine and fuel supplies, with the displacement of about two million Palestinians from the Strip, which has been besieged by Israel for 17 years.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip that has left tens of thousands of civilian victims, most of them children and women, in addition to an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe and massive destruction of infrastructure, which led to Tel Aviv being brought before the International Court of Justice on charges of “genocide.” ".

Source: Anadolu Agency