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Estimated Wedding Costs in Gaza (USD)
Breakdown of basic expenses for a simple wedding setup in a displacement camp.
Primary Sources
In Gaza, the simplest of weddings are barely affordable
Deir el-Balah, Gaza Strip – With a weary expression, Saja arranges her few belongings inside the tent her fiance, Mohammed, has prepared for their wedding in just a few days.There are two thin mattresses instead of a proper bed, a small cooking corner fashioned from wood and tarpaulin, and a makeshift bathroom that Mohammed also built from scraps of wood and plastic sheets.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3US push for Lebanon and Israel leaders to meet could inflame tensionslist 2 of 3UK convicts four Palestine Action activists over break-in at Israeli firmlist 3 of 3Israel extends detention of Gaza flotilla activists, lawyers sayend of listThe couple, Saja al-Masri, 22, and Mohammed Ahliwat, 27, got engaged a year ago while their families were displaced. They are still living in a camp in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, forced into displacement by Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.Saja agreed to a modest dowry, but even that will only be paid by Mohammed in instalments.Yet even this “simple beginning” has become unbearably expensive for Mohammed and many young men in Gaza, who are expected to shoulder the majority of the costs in Palestinian culture when they get married.“I bought the tent for 1,500 shekels [about $509], the wood cost me around 2,500 [about $850], the tarpaulins exceeded 2,000 [about $679], and a simple bathroom cost another 3,000 [about $1,019],” Mohammed tells Al Jazeera. Before the war, apartments had previously been available for rent for between $250 and $300 a month.“It’s not enough that I’m starting my life in a tent under harsh conditions, even this is unbearably expensive,” adds Mohammed, who works odd jobs like selling bread and canned goods or repairing bicycles.“Everything I earn barely covers food and water. I tried to save a little for the wedding, but prices are so high, as if I were preparing a luxurious event.”Before the war, Mohammed lived in a large seven-storey house in Bureij in central Gaza, and owned a fully furnished 170-square-metre apartment.“When I remember my apartment in our home that was destroyed in the war, I feel deep sorrow … My brothers and I each had fully prepared apartments before marriage.”“We had stability, and we owned poultry farms that supplied several areas in Gaza,” he says bitterly. “Today, I’m getting married in a tent.”As for the wedding venue, Mohammed rented a small space that had been used as a cafe, unable to afford a wedding hall.“A friend helped me rent this small place … for 1...
Amid Ruins of Gaza, Couple Holds Unique Wedding Ceremony on Decorated ...
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Framing Gaza: The Wedding and the Brawl You Didn't See
Media framed Gaza's mass wedding as hope—omitting a violent brawl at the same event, exposing selective reporting.
Bride mourns father days before wedding in Gaza shelter
Restrictions Summary: APA wire clients only Shortlist: APAwire - APA wire clients only, Gaza- May 3, 2026. Lina Meqdad, a Palestinian bride, looks at photos and belongings of her father alongside her wedding dress inside Ibn al-Dahyan School, which has been turned into a shelter for displaced people, in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City on May 3, 2026. Meqdad lost her father, Imad ...
