Dozens of Palestinian couples walked hand-in-hand through the shattered streets of southern Gaza on Tuesday for a mass wedding ceremony that offered a rare moment of joy after two years of Israel’s genocidal war and devastation. Eman Hassan Lawwa was dressed in traditional Palestinian prints and Hikmat Lawwa wore a suit as they walked hand-in-hand past the crumbled buildings of southern Gaza in a line of other couples dressed in exactly the same way. The 27-year-old Palestinians were among 54 couples to get married Tuesday in a mass wedding in war-ravaged Gaza that represented a rare moment of hope after two years of devastation, death and conflict.
“Despite everything that has happened, we will begin a new life,” Hikmat Lawwa said. “God willing, this will be the end of the war,” he said. Weddings are a key part of Palestinian culture that have become rare in Gaza during the war. The tradition has begun to resume in the wake of a fragile cease-fire, even if the weddings are different from the elaborate ceremonies once held in the territory.
