Love in a time of war: Weddings in Middle East hotspots

Hanan, a displaced Syrian woman wears her wedding dress at her temporary home, a school building transformed into a makeshift shelter, before being wed to Mohammad in the northern Syrian city of Hasakeh on December 1, 2019. “Love, we have no aim but to be defeated in your wars,” wrote the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish.

A bridal dress on displace in an area fully destroyed by aerial attacks in north-west Syria. This goes to show there are glimmers of hope, beauty and even romance during the worst of times.

The newly wedded couple Hanan and Mohammad are greeted as enter their temporary home in a school building, transformed into a makeshift shelter for displaced people, on their wedding day in the northern Syrian city of Hasakeh on December 1, 2019.

Luvin Yousuf, a Kurdish bride, arrives to her wedding ceremony in the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli in northeastern Syria on December 20, 2019.

Mustafa Ramadan, a Kurdish groom, dances as he enters his wedding ceremony in the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli in northeastern Syria on December 20, 2019.

Yemenis dance at a wedding ceremony in the old city of Sana'a on December 19, 2019. Despite the armed conflicts devastating the Middle East, occasionally love comes out victorious. From the battlefields of Syria to the ruined cities of Yemen, there are glimmers of hope, beauty and even romance.

Yemenis attend a wedding ceremony in the old city of Sana'a on December 19, 2019.

Yemenis dance at a wedding ceremony in the old city of Sana'a on December 19, 2019. Despite the armed conflicts devastating the Middle East, occasionally love comes out victorious.