Gaza full of hope, 300 couples get married at the same time

Crowds gathered in Gaza as 300 couples gathered for a joint wedding celebration, the largest mass wedding in the region to date.

The couple stood out from nearly 2,000 attendees at the event in Deir al-Balah.

The weddings are funded by the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation as part of Operation Brave Knight 3 in the United Arab Emirates, a humanitarian initiative supporting Palestinians in Gaza.

One of the brides, Thekra al-Masri, told the BBC how the celebrations brought “hope for change” to displaced Gazans.

Gaza has had a ceasefire since October, but it is fragile.

The war in Gaza was triggered by a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which some 1,200 people were killed and a further 251 were taken hostage.

Israel has launched a military operation against Hamas in Gaza, killing more than 72,560 people, according to the region’s health ministry.

On April 23, at least eight Palestinians, including three children, Killed in two Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, according to medics and first responders.

The Israeli military said in a statement that they were targeting so-called “terrorists” who had approached troops in the Yellow Line area, which marks territory controlled by the Israeli army and posed a direct threat.

A Hamas spokesman condemned what he called a “horrible massacre” and accused Israel of undermining efforts to enforce the ceasefire.