( CNN ) -- Amid the death and destruction of life in Gaza , a spark of hope for the future : A Palestinian couple have married in a makeshift wedding ceremony at the UNRWA shelter which has become their temporary home . Omar Abu Namar , 30 , and Heba Fayad , 23 , moved to the shelter -- a U.N. school in Gaza City 's Shati refugee camp -- after their homes in Beit Lahiya were destroyed in the conflict with Israel , throwing their wedding plans into disarray . Fayad 's white dress and other items for the wedding were lost , and she and her husband-to-be faced the prospect of having to postpone their special day indefinitely , before friends , family and others stepped in to help . `` I went to UNRWA and told them that I am engaged and asked them if they can help me to do the wedding , '' Abu Namar explained in an interview with the Watania Media Agency , published on YouTube . `` They said yes , we will help you with it . They stood by me , and helped with the wedding from A to Z . '' UNWRA offered to host the wedding at the shelter , and even paid for the couple to spend their first few nights as husband and wife at a hotel , away from the crowds of thousands of fellow displaced people now living under the same roof . Those crowds -- the couple 's new neighbors -- were in attendance as Abu Namar and Fayad celebrated their wedding . For many the party , complete with dancers , music , balloons and cake , offered a much-needed break from the bloodshed , and a chance to forget the troubles of recent weeks . `` Now that we are at the wedding , we have a change of spirits : enough depression and melancholy , this is something else , '' guest Haya Aziz told the Agence France-Presse news agency ( AFP ) . UNRWA spokesman Christopher Gunness told CNN the wedding was a rare piece of good news for Gaza . `` It is truly heartwarming that amid the carnage and devastation we have a story of love and humanity -- it is a reminder of the dignity and the destinies that lie behind the statistics . '' But he added that despite the individual romance of Abu Namar and Fayad 's story , `` one must never lose sight of the fact that Gaza has seen its worst devastation in recent memory . '' READ MORE : Gaza cease-fire extension holding . READ MORE : Mideast spiraling in war and terror . READ MORE : What are the prospects for peace ? CNN 's Carol Jordan , Andrew Carey , Antonia Mortensen and Ali Younes contributed to this report .
Omar Abu Namar , 30 , and Heba Fayad , 23 , were married in ceremony at UNRWA shelter . The couple moved to the Gaza shelter after their homes in Beit Lahiya were destroyed . UNRWA paid for the couple to spend their first few nights as husband and wife in a hotel .