KHAN YUNIS, Palestinian Territories (AFP) — The couples walked hand in hand, the brides in traditional embroidered Palestinian white and red dresses adorned with red ribbons, the grooms walked beside them in black suits and ties.

But the backdrop told a different story: dilapidated buildings, piles of concrete and rubble — the scars of two years of conflict in the Gaza Strip.

On Tuesday, 54 couples tied the knot in a mass wedding ceremony in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza — a defiant celebration of life amid the wreckage of war.

“We needed a moment of happiness like this, something that could make our hearts feel alive again,” said Karam Musaaed, one of the grooms.

On a red carpet laid across rubble-strewn ground, dozens of couples paraded to the beat of drums before ascending a makeshift stage.

The brides in their embroidered dresses clutched bridal bouquets containing the Palestinian colors of red, white and green. The grooms walked beside them, waving small flags.

The collective ceremony, accompanied by traditional music and dances, drew hundreds of spectators to a city square.

Some gathered on the plaza, while others perched precariously on the ruins of surrounding buildings.

The mass wedding was organized by the Al-Faris Al-Shahim Foundation, an Emirati humanitarian organization that has delivered aid to Gaza.

“We chose this place amid the rubble to say that the ‘dress of joy’ will rise again,” Shareef al-Neyrab, media officer for the organization in Gaza, told AFP.