A non-governmental charity is launching a campaign to persuade Palestinians to remarry widows in the Gaza strip. According to a report published by a Palestinian website, Hamas is encouraging this process by offering generous financial rewards - US$3,000 for each man who marries a martyr's widow.
The Palestinian report said the latest move was initiated by Gaza Strip rulers of Hamas. It stressed that in order to pursue this project, a principal condition has to be met. The man who wants to take advantage of financial incentive needs to prove he will be able to support the widow (and her children) in addition to his wife.
Meanwhile, the official spokesman of Hamas in Gaza Strip, Ismail Radwan, denied such a project is taking place. Radwan said that "Hamas did not offer any payments or launched a project to motivate young people to marry women whose husbands were killed in the last war in Gaza." He continued by saying that "it is not true Hamas is working on this project since the movement does not interfere with Palestinians’ personal issues, like marriage and other personal freedoms."
Generally speaking, Islamic charity organizations in the Gaza strip are committed to help the widows. These bodies have been helping these women financially but also how to deal with the psychological shock facing them after losing their husband in the war. The shock is so overwhelming that most of the women refuse to marry again.
Aldrao Ibrahim, a researcher specializing in Palestinian affairs, explained that the Palestinian society is witnessing a social problem since the vast rejection of Gaza’s widows from getting married again. He pointed out that Gaza’s Islamic charities are seeking to resolve the problem of rejection of widows to marry again, with the facilitation of the marriage through the material assistance of up to US$10,000 dollars. This process is also realized through educational programs and training courses for the widows in order to motivate them to marry again.
The social problem occurring in Gaza Strip reveals that the women who have reached their 30s do not want to go through another marriage again. After the death of their husbands, they spend their time raising their children or fighting with the factions of resistance.
Studies indicate that women’s reluctance to get married again does not lead to a problem in the population composition of Gaza since most of these widows have from 3 to 8 sons.
