Newly-married couple pitch their dreams in tent

Gaza: "Why not?" Eman replied after being asked by her fiancé to marry and live in a tent.

Ahmad Al Hirsh, 22, and his 18-year-old fiancé Eman Abd Al Aal were married outside their tent where they will live until Israel allows building materials into the area. For now, the tent, on the rubble of their nearly finished home, will serve as their honeymoon location as well.

"Despite the destruction of our home - the foundation for our dreams for a better life, we still have a strong will and insist on life and joy, and we will be reborn, the Israelis can't stop our normal life," the groom said following the wedding.

Although his fiancé was at first hesitant to marry him without having a home to move into, she eventually came to the conclusion it was better to get married and go home to a tent than to wait for their dream house to be built.

It is traditional in Palestinian culture for couples to get engaged and then wait to have the wedding ceremony until their home - often on or near the groom's family home, is constructed. The home is the family's investment in the future of the couple and ensures a measure of security for newly-weds.

With Israel refusing to allow construction materials into Gaza without the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, no new homes will be constructed. Moreover, the estimated 1,885 completely destroyed homes, 2,200 partially destroyed homes and 5,000 damaged homes will not be fixed, leaving hundreds of thousands in shelters, tents and make-shift shacks.

During the wedding the bride sat in a white gown in an area marked out in front of the shattered home. Smiling women's faces periodically snuck glances over at the men's celebration, and laughter could be heard from all corners.

Ahmad said that his bride's family fully supported the idea of marriage despite the rather untraditional living arrangements for the newly-weds. He recalls the day she accepted his second proposal; to get married in the tent.

"Everybody should get married in a beautiful home, but Gaza is an exception to this rule," he remembers her saying. "That our homes have been destroyed does not mean our lives come to an end, so I will live with you in a tent until God changes the situation."

"We will light a candle," Eman said, "amidst darkness and know that that candle will light up our lives."