Two hundred and fifty Palestinian couples celebrated their weddings together in a mass ceremony on Gaza City's Mediterranean coast on Friday, in a rare moment of joy in a territory marked by destruction, displacement and economic hardship.

Source: The National, via The Nigerian News

The ceremony was held at the Sea Club along Gaza City's beachfront as part of the United Arab Emirates' humanitarian initiative Operation Chivalrous Knight 3, organised in cooperation with the Saqr bin Mohammed Al Qasimi Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation to support young Palestinians who have struggled to afford wedding expenses because of the war.

Brides wore traditional white wedding gowns and carried bouquets, while grooms appeared in dark suits, some wearing Palestinian keffiyeh scarves, in an event that brought together couples from different parts of the enclave.

Dr Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, said the initiative reflected his country's continued commitment to supporting Palestinians.

Chosen by lottery, helped to start a home

Organisers selected the 250 grooms through a public lottery from a broad pool of applicants who met designated social and financial criteria, an Operation Chivalrous Knight 3 spokesperson, Azzam Shaath, said, emphasising that the initiative targets young residents facing overwhelming financial obstacles from displacement and economic disruption.

With funding from the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation, each couple received cash assistance and essential home supplies to help them establish their households after the ceremony, organisers said.

The ceremony coincided with the third anniversary of Operation Chivalrous Knight 3, the UAE humanitarian mission launched on November 5, 2023, under the directives of President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to assist Palestinians affected by the war.

The celebration came on the same weekend that Gaza's displaced families were bracing for the season's first winter storm — a contrast that underlined what the couples and their families said the day meant: a public claim on ordinary life, made together, in a place where weddings had been postponed for years because the money, the homes and the safety were not there.

For the 500 newlyweds, the cash assistance and household supplies are a start, not a solution: most will begin married life in tents, rented rooms or damaged homes. But for one evening on the Gaza City coast, the music, the national dancing and the two flags — Palestinian and Emirati — told a simpler story of survival and celebration.