YNet reports that the number of Gaza widows has grown so large that Hamas is paying men off to marry them — to the tune of $3,000.
Hamas initiated the move in an attempt to lower the number of widowed women in the Gaza Strip who lost the spouses who provided for them and their children, and in order to ease their emotional grief and financial difficulties.
The number of widows in Gaza has grown dramatically after Operation Cast Lead. The Palestinian society regards divorcées and widows in a negative way, and young men usually refrain from marrying them.
Hamas hopes that by encouraging men to wed these women, it will be providing them with stability and a better life.
And lest you think the idea of marrying widows is some crazy Islamic fundamentalist thing, see here. (No, it’s not exactly the same, but still …)
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