Ramzi Mahmud and Tarek Chouiref
12 January 2026•Update: 14 January 2026
GAZA CITY, Palestine / ISTANBUL
Silence has wrapped itself around Ahmed Abu Saada’s life since the moment he lost his wife, just two days after their wedding, when a crumbling wall collapsed onto their tent in Gaza, killing her instantly.
What was meant to be the beginning of a shared life turned into a devastating memory, leaving the young Palestinian trapped in grief, surrounded by fragments of dreams that barely had time to form.
Ahmed, a man in his twenties with a hearing disability, had tried to rebuild his life after Israel’s devastating war on Gaza, defying displacement, loss, and hardship. He met Walaa Jahha, and together they chose to face life’s cruelty with hope, planning a modest future inside a tent, the only shelter available to them.
On Dec. 27, the couple held a simple wedding amid displacement. With Ahmed’s family having fled the Tuffah neighborhood in eastern Gaza City after their home was destroyed by Israeli bombardment, the newlyweds set up their tent near damaged buildings along the city’s shoreline.
Two days later, their fragile joy was shattered.
A powerful winter storm swept through Gaza, bringing fierce winds and heavy rain. A partially destroyed wall from a building damaged by earlier Israeli strikes collapsed onto the couple’s tent. Walaa was killed instantly.
Since that night, Ahmed spends his days withdrawn and silent, scrolling through his phone, replaying photos from a wedding that lasted just hours, now transformed into a source of unbearable pain, his father told Anadolu.
“Ahmed tried to overcome his hearing disability and live like any young man,” said his father, Saad al-Din Abu Saada.
“But he found himself facing an even greater tragedy. He was left with a deep psychological shock and can no longer interact as he used to.”
The father said his son has become isolated, spending most of his time lying silently on his bed, the same mattress that still bears traces of his wife’s blood.
- Living beside danger
Ahmed’s family said they had no choice but to pitch the newlyweds’ tent beside damaged and unstable buildings, amid the absence of safe housing alternatives after widespread destruction across Gaza.
Local reports indicate that thousands of tons of rubble from Israeli bombardment remain scattered throughout residential areas, posing serious structural risks and increasing the likelihood of sudden collapses.
Since December, dozens of buildings previously damaged by Israeli airstrikes have collapsed under harsh winter conditions, killing and injuring Palestinians sheltering nearby.
Ahmed’s father appealed to the international community, and to the conscience of humanity, to look at Gaza’s people with compassion, urging action to provide safe shelter, dignity and protection for families who have already lost everything.
According to recent figures, more than 18 Palestinians have been killed by the collapse of at least 50 damaged buildings during recent storms.
With Israel continuing to block the entry of mobile homes and construction materials, many Palestinians are left with no option but to live beside, or inside, structures on the brink of collapse.
For Ahmed, the tent remains, the wall has fallen, and love, brief and fragile, has become another casualty of war’s long shadow.
The Israeli army has killed more than 71,400 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 171,000 others in a brutal offensive since October 2023 that has left the enclave in ruins.
Despite the ceasefire, the Israeli army has continued its attacks, killing 442 Palestinians and wounding more than 1,200 others, according to the Health Ministry.
