250 Palestinian couples celebrate mass wedding in Gaza

• A mass wedding brought together 250 Palestinian couples in Gaza City on Friday, November 6, under the UAE-backed Operation Chivalrous Knight 3.
• The couples were selected through a lottery from 11,622 applicants, with the ceremony held at the Gaza Maritime Club.
• The event marked the third edition of the "Garment of Joy" initiative, offering young Palestinians an opportunity to celebrate their marriages amid displacement, destruction and financial hardship.

The ceremony, held on the Gaza City beachfront at the Maritime Club, brought together 250 brides and grooms from across the Gaza Strip. The event was part of the third edition of the "Thoub Al Farah" (Garment of Joy) initiative, supported by the UAE's Saqr bin Mohammed Al Qasimi Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation.

According to the organizing committee, 11,622 people applied to participate in the mass wedding. Following registration and eligibility checks, 1,335 applicants qualified for the final lottery, which selected 250 grooms to marry 250 brides.

The celebrations included a procession of decorated vehicles carrying Palestinian flags, flowers and red ribbons along Gaza City's coastal road. The couples then gathered at the seaside venue for the ceremony, accompanied by traditional music and celebrations.

For some newlyweds, the celebration came alongside the painful reality of losing their homes.

Groom Saed Al-Najjar said his family's home had been destroyed and that he was living in a tent near the Yellow Line in Jabalia refugee camp.

"This joy does not belong only to one groom or 250 grooms; it is the joy of all the people of Gaza," he said.

Another groom, Mohammad Quwaidir, said he had lost his home and could not afford to rent or buy another one. Asked where he planned to live with his wife, he replied: "We will live in a tent."

Munir Al-Tatari also described the ceremony as an expression of Palestinians' determination to continue living despite the destruction.

"Despite the destruction and despite the war that came upon the Gaza Strip, we are a people who love to celebrate and love to live," he said, according to AFP.

The mass wedding was organized under Operation Chivalrous Knight 3, the UAE's humanitarian campaign launched in November 2023 to deliver food, medical supplies and other assistance to Palestinians in Gaza.

The latest ceremony marked the third mass wedding organized under the initiative, following events involving 54 couples in Khan Younis in December 2025 and 300 couples in Deir Al-Balah in April 2026.

The event offered hundreds of Palestinian couples an opportunity to celebrate their marriages, even as many continue to face displacement, financial hardship and the loss of their homes.