NEARLY 600 Palestinians have married in the West Bank and the Gaza strip in a mass wedding funded by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority.

Taking part in Tuesday's ceremony were 218 couples from the Israeli-occupied West Bank who were married in the historic city of Jericho, with another 80 couples marrying at a parallel ceremony in the Hamas-ruled Gaza strip.

The office of Ramallah-based Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, who attended the Jericho ceremony, said it had cost $US1.5 million ($A1.72 million).

The brides wore traditional embroidered Palestinian dresses, while the grooms were attired in Western suits.

Jamal Lafi, director of the Bureau for Refugees, said the mass wedding was "to help young couples get married in the difficult economic situation''.

Lafi said Abbas's office paid for all the wedding expenses, including the couples' clothes and transportation for thousands of guests, in addition to giving each couple $US4000.