2,000 couples attend largest mass wedding in Gaza

Palestinian brides attend a mass wedding ceremony at the Yarmouk Stadium in Gaza on May 31, 2015. [Photo/IC]

GAZA - A total of 2,000 brides and grooms gathered on Sunday in the Gaza city in what could be the largest ever mass wedding.

The mass wedding, sponsored by Turkey, took place at the main Gaza sports stadium of al-Yarmuk, where the newlyweds were accompanied by hundreds of people, including their families and friends.

According to Ismail Haneya, deputy chief of the Islamic Hamas movement, Turkey has offered four million US dollars to finance the event.

He also said Turkey pledged to build up to 20 housing units comprising of 340 apartments during the coming summer in a reconstruction effort to rebuild homes destroyed during last summer's Israeli military offensive against Gaza.

The wedding party coincided with the five year commemoration of the Israeli naval attack on the Gaza-bound aid flotilla, when nine Turkish activists were killed.

The younger generation in Gaza enjoy having mass weddings as they can receive funds to help them establish small businesses from which they can earn a living as they start a new life.