Ahmad Al Sharif Celebrates His Wedding on a ‘Bulldozer”

Ahmad and his bride will never forget their wedding day. It was a joyous occasion because he was married on a bulldozer amidst the ruins of his Sheikh Radwan neighborhood which is part of Gaza City.

Social media websites covered the festive occasion at length, Friday, with him being carried in the mouth of the bulldozer as he danced next to his bride with people cheering him on as Palestinian danced the dabbakeh folklore and traditional song.

The bride Ahmad Al Sharif travelled back with his wife Alaa, from Deir Al Balah in the center of the Gaza Strip. The newly-weds were part of a group wedding of a massive 300 people that was held in that city’s “Dier Al Balah Services Club” and organized by the UAE-based Al Khalifah Humanitarian Corp.

Such happiness can only be displayed in Gaza where the Strip is “starving but happy” according to its people. “I was particularly keen to have part of my wedding on a bulldozer to show the ruins and debris my neighborhood and city has been reduced to by the Israelis,” Al Sharif said.

For him Friday, will be remembered as an ecstatic occasion. The collective wedding began in Deir Al Balah at 1 pm on Friday noon where brides and grooms from all over the Gaza Strip got “hitched” in plush rented out white dresses and black suits and watched by thousands of people.

About 120 couples came from the Radwan, Shujayia, and Rimal areas of Gaza City and the north of the Strip while the rest from central Gaza, Khan Younis and Rafah, the last city being on the southern border with the Sinai Peninsula and Egypt.

Some of the couples also came from their new homes in tent cities hoisted in the months after the Israeli genocide soon after 7 October, 2023 when thousands of people were displaced and chased away through Israeli guns.

The big wedding ceremony lasted till mid-afternoon Asr prayer and all the couples started to move out and go back to where they came from.

“We wanted to get back to our homes before dark,” Al Sharif. “I actually wanted to get back to my neighborhood before sunset to have another party, and boy, what a send that turned out to be.” This was true because of the videos that splashed the Internet.

He surprised everyone by having the party on a bulldozer with his bride sitting next to him; it is him and his bride Alaa that made the news headlines on social media websites as the other couples took their new brides back home without much pomp nor ceremony considering the circumstances.

“I wanted to have a party among the rubbles as a point of defiance and show the Israeli army that they can’t beat our spirit,” he added. “We had a good show, judging from the number of people who came to greet us and join in the festivities,” he added.

Most of the people of Gaza has been reduced to living among the wreckage, debris and in tents. The UN estimates that between 57.5 to 68 million tons of debris clutter the Strip today; and these piles were created by the 100,000 tons of explosives thrown on the enclave by Israel since 7 October, 2023.

The total number of people that have been killed in Gaza stands at 72,600 while over 172,000 have been injured as shown by the Gaza Health Ministry.

Not many married during the genocide of the last two years or so. Young people have been delaying till things become relatively quite, war-wise. Ever since 11 October, 2025, a ceasefire took place in Gaza as backed by US President Donald Trump.

Although the killings and injury continue through the Israeli military, by comparison, they are much lower than when the war on Gaza had been at its highest, and which explains why more and more people are getting married in the enclave.

Marwan Asmar is a writer from Amman and is Chief Editor of crossfirearabia.com

CrossFireArabia

Dr. Marwan Asmar holds a PhD from Leeds University and is a freelance writer specializing on the Middle East. He has worked as a journalist since the early 1990s in Jordan and the Gulf countries, and been widely published, including at Albawaba, Gulf News, Al Ghad, World Press Review and others.

Uncategorized

Palestinian Flag Raised Slovenia Presidential Palace

CrossFireArabia
June 12, 2026

Slovenian President Nataša Perč-Mušar raised the Palestinian flag on the presidential palace in Ljubljana, Saturday. This is a symbolic gesture following its removal from government headquarters after conservative Prime Minister Janez Janša assumed power following the March 22 elections.

In a post on the X platform, Perč-Mušar said the flag would remain flying on the front of the palace for a week before being moved inside for public display. She described the move as carrying political and moral significance regarding the Palestinian cause and international law as reported in Quds Press.

She added the Palestinian flag, in addition to its national symbolism, now reflects what she termed grave violations of international humanitarian law in Palestine and other areas, highlighting the ongoing suffering of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

The president emphasized that “the genocide against the Palestinians has not stopped,” and the residents of Gaza and the West Bank do not live in conditions that guarantee their human dignity, considering the raising of the flag an expression of solidarity with the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.

The move coincided with a rising political controversy in Slovenia surrounding allegations of foreign interference in the recent general elections, including accusations concerning the role of the Israeli intelligence firm Black Cube. But this have been denied by relevant political figures in the country.

The government of former Prime Minister Robert Golbow had officially recognized the State of Palestine in 2014 and imposed restrictions on the export, import, and transit of military equipment to and from Israel. Janša opposed these measures and called for a public referendum on them.

This comes amidst ongoing Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, which, according to available data, have resulted in hundreds of martyrs and thousands of wounded, in a war that has continued since October 2013 and has caused widespread destruction in the besieged territory.

Since October 8, 2023, Israel, with American and European support, carried out a genocide in the Gaza Strip, including killing, starvation, destruction, displacement, and arbitrary arrests, ignoring international appeals and orders from the International Court of Justice to halt its operations.

This genocide has left more than 246,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing. In addition, hundreds of thousands have been displaced, and famine has claimed the lives of many, mostly children. Furthermore, the Gaza Strip has suffered widespread destruction, with most of its cities and towns effectively erased from the map.

Uncategorized

UN Red Alert Lebanon

CrossFireArabia
June 10, 2026

The UN on Tuesday warned that an Israeli displacement order for Lebanon’s port city of Tyre will affect nearly 44,000 people, as peacekeepers recorded dozens of airspace violations and hundreds of firing incidents across southern Lebanon.

Pointing to the “deteriorating” situation in Tyre amid repeated Israeli displacement orders and continued strikes, UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said at a news conference: “The displacement order issued by Israel today for the entire city of Tyre, including all neighborhoods and Palestinian refugee camps, will affect nearly 44,000 people, many who were already displaced.”

On the military front, UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) peacekeepers yesterday observed “intensive ground and air activities” by Israeli forces across the UNIFIL’s area of operations, Haq said, citing armored movements, large-scale engineering and demolition works, sustained logistical traffic, and airstrikes.

“UNIFIL detected 48 violations of Lebanese airspace by Israel and nine airstrikes conducted by IDF fighter aircraft, as well as one separate incident of sustained machine-gun fire from an IDF helicopter, during which approximately 100 rounds were fired toward Bint Jubayl,” he said.

Total overflight time reached approximately 85 hours, with air activity particularly concentrated in the vicinity of Bint Jubayl, Tyre, and Deir Siriane, Haq said.

Peacekeepers also reported 446 trajectories fired from Israeli forces’ positions, “both south of the Blue Line and within the mission’s area of operations,” he said.

Israeli attacks have continued despite a fragile ceasefire that took effect April 17 and was later extended until early July.

More than 3,660 people have been killed and over 11,300 injured since Israel expanded its military campaign in Lebanon on March 2, while more than 1 million people have been displaced, according to Lebanese authorities.

Aoun also urged stronger EU support for Lebanon, particularly for the army, security institutions and the economy. He said Lebanon’s efforts to prevent the flow of Syrian refugees toward Europe should be matched by greater assistance from the bloc. Anadolu