Watan-In a new video clip following the controversy sparked by claims of their martyrdom, the bride and groom of Rafah, Mahmoud and Shaimaa, denied these rumors that have stirred widespread debate, pointing out that another couple got married before them and were martyred.
The couple had their marriage contract and wedding ceremony on Friday in Rafah, south of the besieged Gaza Strip, densely populated with displaced people. Rumors surfaced Monday morning about their martyrdom in an Israeli shelling on their displacement site.
Bride and groom of Rafah deny news of their martyrdom
However, Palestinian groom Mahmoud posted a video clip from in front of his tent in Rafah, with his wife Shaimaa by his side, to deny these reports and confirm that they are both alive, refuting what has been circulated.
He appeared saying: “I am the groom Mahmoud, I got married on Friday, three days ago, and I am alive, not martyred yet… The news that came out today and spread on social media in general is not about me, it’s another family, may God have mercy on the martyrs.”
عروسا #رفح لم يستشهدا وهما بخير🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/8zi6A4zhZt
— زينب عواضة (@Zeinab__Awada) February 19, 2024
He continued, confirming that he and his wife Shaimaa are fine: “I am here in my tent at Al-Dhahia playground, living, thank God, I only need your prayers… This joy is indeed not complete yet, but God willing, our happiness will be complete and God will grant us the opportunity for Umrah (pilgrimage to Mecca) and my wife and I will spend our honeymoon there.”
It seems that there was confusion among social media users due to talk about the targeting of another couple in Deir al-Balah in the middle of the Gaza Strip.
With the repeated threat of invading Rafah, the occupation continues to starve and exterminate the besieged Palestinians inside Gaza by bombing them and blockading them in a suffocating manner, cutting off all means of life for them amid a terrifying and alarming global silence according to observers.
Policy of starvation and extermination
The policy of starvation and extermination witnesses significant overcrowding in Rafah, with no fewer than 1.4 million Palestinians, including more than a million displaced people who fled there due to Israeli occupation operations in the northern and central parts of the Strip, claiming it to be a “safe area” despite its frequent bombardment and the siege of its people, causing unprecedented hunger among its inhabitants, unlike anything previously seen in the region’s history.
توضيح واعتذار :
العريس الي بالصورة اسمه محمود خزيق وزوجته وهم احياء يرزقون، متواجدين بدير البلحالعرسان الي اغتالهم الاحتلال هم :
العروس مريم السيد ديب وعريسها عبد الله أبو نحل في رفح ..الله يجمعهم بالفردوس ويحمي كل اهلنا بغزة pic.twitter.com/DshvCWdUCz
— NawraS (@Nawras_Atta) February 19, 2024
Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli occupation has been waging a destructive war on the Gaza Strip, leaving tens of thousands of civilian casualties, most of them children and women, as well as an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe and massive destruction of infrastructure.
Although this led to the occupation being brought before the International Court of Justice on charges of “genocide,” that lawsuit has not changed the reality in Gaza, where Israel, with the support of the Egyptian and Jordanian regimes, continues to starve and kill Palestinians.