Anne Barker reported this story on Friday, August 21, 2009 08:21:00

TONY EASTLEY: It's amazing what people will do for love. A Palestinian woman has braved the threat of Israeli bombs by crawling more than one kilometre through a dangerous underground tunnel between Egypt and Gaza just to marry her sweetheart.



The tunnels are mostly used to smuggle rockets and other weapons to Hamas militants in Gaza or goods not allowed through the strict Israeli blockade. People regularly die either from tunnels collapsing or the occasional Israeli bomb.



But for May Ahmed love conquered any fear and she was married on Tuesday.



Middle East correspondent Anne Barker reports.



(Sounds of music and clapping)



ANNE BARKER: True love it seems truly does know no bounds, least of all for a Palestinian couple who faced a giant hurdle to getting married.



He lived in Gaza which has been under total blockade for two years by the Israelis determined to stop further rocket attacks. She lived in the West Bank, barely two hours away by road but separated by Israel. And for a long while it seemed they might never even meet.



MOHAMMED WARDA (translated): Unfortunately the Israelis they didn't show any mercy for us to let us meet.



ANNE BARKER: Twenty-five year old Mohammed Warda was introduced to 23-year-old May Ahmed via Webcam. After a whirlwind online romance they decided to marry.



MOHAMMED WARDA (translated): I applied for the Israelis five times to get the permit to go and to get married with her officially, on using the official ways. They rejected all the times. I suggested to her family to bring her through Jordan, Egypt and then through a tunnel and they accepted the idea.



ANNE BARKER: Even getting to the tunnel was a challenge for May Ahmed that involved visa problems in Jordan, a four-hour boat trip to Egypt, then nine hours by road to the Gaza border and entry to the tunnels.



(Sound of May Ahmed speaking)



"It was really horrible," she says "because Mohammed told me the Israelis sometimes bomb the tunnels and also it was exhausting. It's difficult to get through the tunnel on your hands and knees."



ANNE BARKER: What did you think about when you were crawling through the tunnel?



(Sound of May Ahmed speaking)



"I was really scared," she said, "not just because of the bombs but because there were a lot of men there and I was the only girl inside a tunnel with men I'd never met.



ANNE BARKER: Finally after nearly an hour crawling through mud May Ahmed climbed out of the tunnel on the Gaza side into the arms of her fiance.



MOHAMMED AHMED (translated): Her clothes were dirty. I couldn't really recognise her and I felt I wanted to cry when I saw her.



(Sound of music and clapping)



ANNE BARKER: But for all their marital bliss the Israeli blockade in Gaza means these newlyweds won't be going anywhere for a honeymoon.



This is Anne Barker in Gaza for AM.