CrossFireArabia
By Dr Marwan Asmar
Despite the ongoing Israeli fire on the Gaza Strip, hundreds of people celebrated the wedding of 40 bride and grooms whose limbs were amputated as a result of the genocide on the enclave started on 7 October, 2023.
The collective wedding held last Wednesday in the Mowasi area, south Khan Younis, was organized by the Palestinian Qanateer Welfare Society and with the support of donations from the people of Morocco.
“This celebration is for the physically-challenged and amputees made so during the war,” said Hazem Sulieman, one of the participants in the event.
“Some of the people getting married today are amputees and some who lost an eye,” he added.
The United Nations estimates that there are between 4500 and 6000 in Gaza who have lost one or more of their limbs. While UNRWA states that, today, Gaza has the largest group of child amputees in modern history.
The following day, Thursday, another collective wedding of 62 brides and grooms were held in the Mowasi area. They were displaced people from the Khuza’ village and came from the Al Najjar extended family.
“We want to send a message of steadfastness and hope despite the harsh humanitarian conditions we are living under,” said one of the grooms.
The Al Najjar family lost 200 martyrs in this war yet this is the second collective wedding it holds despite the destruction that exists around them.
The Israeli army has killed nearly 73,000 people and injured over 173,000 others, mostly women and children, in a brutal offensive in Gaza since October 2023, that has also caused widespread destruction to 90% of the enclave’s civilian infrastructure.
Dr Marwan Asmar is a writer based in Amman and is the editor of www.crossfirearabia.com
