'Dress of joy:' Mass wedding brings hope for Palestinians

The couples walked hand in hand, the brides in traditional embroidered Palestinian white and red dresses adorned with red ribbons, the grooms walked beside them in black suits and ties.

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But the backdrop told a different story: dilapidated buildings, piles of concrete and rubble—the scars of two years of conflict in the Gaza Strip. On Tuesday, 54 couples tied the knot in a mass wedding ceremony in Khan Younis in southern Gaza — a defiant celebration of life amid the wreckage of war.

"Operation Chivalrous Knight 3” marked the UAE's 54th Eid Al Etihad by organising a mass wedding for 54 grooms from the Gaza Strip, a step that carries a message of hope and humanitarian support for young people and families amid the difficult conditions the territory is experiencing.

The mass wedding was organised by the Al Faris Al Shahim Foundation, an Emirati humanitarian organisation that has delivered aid to Gaza. “We chose this place amid the rubble to say that the ‘dress of joy’ will rise again,” Shareef Al Neyrab, media officer for the organisation in Gaza, told AFP Once more, the people of Gaza will emerge from the ruins so that Gaza may rejoice, and God willing we will restore its future and rebuild it,” he added.