Abbas’ first engagement, with Ahmed Abuhassira, took place before the war began, specifically on 27 August 2023.
The young couple had set their wedding date for 23 October 2023.
“I met him for the last time on 6 October 2023, then the war started the following day, and I was unable to meet him again until the date of his death on 26 October 2023,” Abbas, 20, told Middle East Eye.
Abbas found out that her fiance had been killed in an Israeli air strike on his home through the news.
“I was watching Al Jazeera and saw on the news ticker that the Abuhassira family’s house had been bombed. They were describing the location of my fiance’s house,” she recalled.
“I later learned that my fiance had been killed along with his entire family in an air strike that completely destroyed their home in the west of Gaza.”
As the Israeli blockade and bombardment worsened, Abbas isolated herself for months, and her relatives and friends assumed she was struggling with depression.
However, during this year’s Ramadan, Abbas began attending Taraweeh, the voluntary nightly prayers performed during the holy month, at the mosque. It was there that a woman, who would later become her mother-in-law, noticed her and was impressed.
"A few days later, she visited my family’s house and asked if I would marry her son. I met him, we talked, and I accepted his proposal,” Abbas said.
“I told him about the immense grief I had experienced, and he promised to make up for everything I had lost and everything I had gone through. He told me he wished he had known me a long time ago.”
Abbas and Shobaki signed their marriage contract, known as "Katb al-Kitab," a custom for couples in Palestine and some Islamic countries.
Abbas’ family organised a small gathering to celebrate the engagement, during which Shobaki and some family members presented the "mahr," a dowry from the groom to the bride, typically given in cash.
Shobaki returned late at night and called Abbas first thing in the morning when he woke up.
“He called me at around 10am and asked me to get ready to have an iftar meal with his family that day. I dressed up and eagerly waited for a call from him to tell me that he had arrived to pick me up, but it was past 3:15pm and he had not called yet,” Abbas said.
“I tried calling him multiple times, but his phone was unreachable, so I sent a message to his mother to ask about him, but she didn’t respond.
“I kept on trying to reach him until my cousin called and told me he had been killed.”