Despite planning their big day for over a year, the ongoing security situation in Israel has forced Lilian Yondov and Eliav Levy, who have been together for eight years, to postpone their wedding.
The couple's wedding was scheduled to take place on Tuesday night, at a hall in their hometown of Ofakim, near the Gaza border. However, in light of the IDF operation in Gaza and directives from the Home Front Command, they were informed that their wedding had been canceled.
"I woke up at 4 a.m., saw alerts about shelters being opened and heard airplanes," Yondov told Maariv. "I waited until the morning to call the event hall, and at first we received very vague answers, and later they informed us that the event could not be held [tonight].
"I'm currently in Beersheva, at the villa where I was supposed to be getting ready for the wedding," she continued. "As soon as they told us it would be impossible to get married there, we looked for an event hall in the center of the country where we could hold our wedding instead, but at the moment, we aren't able to find one.
"I'm very disappointed," she admitted. "We have been waiting for this day for a long time. Two years ago, I was seriously injured in the army, and by the time I've returned to half the person I used to be, and planned our wedding, it feels like it's been pulled from our fingers.
"It's not easy, it's very frustrating. I hope we'll be able to find a solution."