Newsletters
A total of 203 grooms and 203 brides take part in a mass wedding ceremony organized by the Turkish Ribat Association in the Zawayda area of the central Gaza Strip on Dec. 18, 2025.
Despite ongoing war and blockade conditions, large numbers of Palestinians attended the ceremony celebrating collective marriage and solidarity.
Gaza has been under intense bombardment since Oct. 7.
Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are living in extremely difficult conditions after their homes were destroyed and they were forcibly displaced. Many families are sheltering in tents or makeshift structures, facing acute shortages of blankets, heating supplies, and winter clothing as temperatures drop.
Israel has killed nearly 70,700 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 171,100 others in attacks in Gaza since October 2023, before the assault came to a halt under the ceasefire deal that took effect on Oct. 10.
On Thursday, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Türkiye is pressing for the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement to start as violations continue to mount, warning that renewed violence could spread beyond the enclave while stressing Türkiye’s readiness to contribute to international stabilization efforts.
Speaking to national broadcaster TRT World in an interview that aired Thursday, Fidan said the ceasefire was “very much precious for us because we've seen the horror, the human tragedy, the genocide that took place in Gaza over the last two years,” since fall 2023. But he added that “there are constant violations of (the) ceasefire,” noting that “since the (Oct. 10) declaration of the ceasefire, almost 400 Palestinians have been killed.”
Fidan said Türkiye supports moving the deal to its second phase, which includes a planned international stabilization force and a governance mechanism for Gaza. “Over the next couple of weeks, we will see some preliminary clear results of those discussions,'' the minister added.
He said Türkiye is ready to take part in such a force, despite Israeli objections, arguing that Ankara has acted as “the voice of the human conscience, the international conscience in the face of the Israeli atrocities in Palestine.”
2 min read
Set as preferred source
