bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

War destroyed their homes and her big white dress, but Heba and Omar agreed nothing would stand in the way of their future happiness.
So they got married, refugees at a UN school in Gaza.
Decked with a cloud of multicoloured balloons and echoing with the joyful ululating of women, the school in Gaza City's Shati refugee camp was transformed from a refugee camp into a party hall on Wednesday.
"If somebody told me that I would be getting married in these conditions, I would not have believed them for a second," said Heba, sitting in a salon in Gaza City the day before the wedding, a hairdresser darting around as she rearranged her long, brown hair.
"I had planned everything: the music, the guest list, my dress and my bouquet. And here I am today, I'm getting married in a school with thousands of refugees," she said
Heba Fayad, 23, and Omar Abu Namar, 30, were due to wed next month in her family home in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza.
But then the war came, laying waste to their plans.
Heba's family home was destroyed along with the items they bought for married life: dresses, accessories, flowers, everything went up in smoke when Israeli warplanes rained destruction on the tiny enclave, which is home to nearly 1.8 million Palestinians.
With reconstruction set to take years - Israel has blockaded Gaza since 2006 and restricts the entry of construction materials - Heba decided to speed things up rather than wait for her home to be rebuilt.
"If I don't get married today, and in these conditions, then I won't be able to get married for at least three years," she said.
"My house was destroyed, I lost everything."
But the UN agency for Palestinian refugees and other aid agencies were keen to give the couple a break from the bloodshed and chipped in to pay for the marriage and two nights in a hotel for the newlyweds.
For Heba, the stay in the hotel is a godsend - the opportunity to get out of the UN school in Beit Lahiya where she is staying with 4,000 refugees.
"Over there, I will take a shower every hour, it will be a change from all these days without seeing a drop of water to wash in," she laughed.
Part of Heba's eagerness to tie the knot at any price is the fact that she has already seen several Israeli attacks, and her family has paid a heavy price.
Her mother, Nabila, has been in a wheelchair since she was wounded in an Israeli air raid that struck her house in 2006. Nabila also lost her son, aged nine at the time, in an Israeli attack.
"Heba is my life, I wanted so much for her to have a nice wedding ceremony in better conditions. It makes me sad to know that she is going to get married in a school for refugees," she sighed.
"But what can we do? These are the conditions that have been imposed on us. Our house was destroyed and her future husband wants to leave, once they get married."
Omar waits at the door. He is just waiting for the moment to depart for a better life abroad.
"My family's not in Gaza. I am alone here," he said. "The celebration, the guests are not the important thing for me. Me, I'm happy because I am going to marry Heba."
He is placing his hopes in a new life outside Gaza and being able to join his family in the United Arab Emirates.
For Heba, leaving Gaza is an opportunity "to start a new life with Omar". "It will be like a long period of recovery to forget everything that we have gone through during this war," she said.


Palestinian couple don’t let warget in the way of a wedding

Heba Fayad and Omar Namar speak to each other during their wedding ceremony in the Shati refugee camp.Photo: Reuters

News

World

Palestinian couple tie the knot in a refugee camp after Israeli bombs had destroyed their homes


War destroyed their homes and her big white dress, but Heba and Omar agreed nothing would stand in the way of their future happiness. So they got married, refugees at a UN school in Gaza.


Palestinian couple don’t let warget in the way of a wedding

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Palestinian couple tie the knot in a refugee camp after Israeli bombs had destroyed their homes

Palestinian couple tie the knot in a refugee camp after Israeli bombs had destroyed their homes