70 years of Palestinians' Al-Nakba today

Israeli Army kills 43 in Gaza clashes

FE Desk | Published: May 14, 2018 23:50:05

As Israel celebrates 70 years of its independence, it is the 70 years of Al-Nakba (catastrophe) for the Palestinians.
On May 14, 1948 Zionist leader David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the creation of the state of Israel, formed out of Palestine where the British mandate had expired hours before.
The declaration followed the mass expulsion of Palestinian people from their homeland. More than 760,000 Palestinians were pushed to exodus or fled from their homes in and some 400 villages were razed by Israeli forces.
These disastrous events are known as Al Nakba and May 15 is the Al-Nakba day. It turns thousands of Palestinians into refugees for the last seven decades.
The first Arab-Israeli war broke out on May 15, 1948, a day after the declaration of Israeli independence, as forces from Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria went to war against the new Jewish state. It ended on January 07, 1949 with a ceasefire.
But it had expanded Israeli territory from the 14,000 square kilometres (5,400 square miles) agreed by the United Nations to 21,000 square kilometres.
Over the next seven decades Israel occupied vast lands of Palestinians. In 1967 a new attack by Arab countries resulted in a dramatic victory for Israel which in six days captured the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Arab east Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. Meanwhile, at least 43 Palestinians have been killed and 2238 wounded by Israeli troops in clashes on the Gaza border on Monday, Palestinian officials say.
The violence came as the US opened its embassy in Jerusalem, a controversial move that has infuriated Palestinians. They see it as clear US backing for Israeli rule over the whole city, whose eastern part Palestinians lay claim to. Top US officials, including President Donald Trump's daughter and her husband, attended Monday's event.
The opening of US embassy in Jerusalem coincides with Al-Nakba day. Palestinians have held weekly protests in the run-up to their annual commemoration of Al-Nakba. Scores of Palestinians have been killed since the protests began. Thousands more have been wounded.
Hamas, which is in a state of conflict with Israel, had said it would step up protests in the lead-up to Tuesday, the official Nakba commemoration. It said it wants to draw attention to what Palestinians insist is their right to return to ancestral homes in what became Israel.
Palestinians throughout the West Bank and Jerusalem were urged to turn out en masse to protest the embassy move and take part in Tuesday's 70th anniversary of the Nakba. Over 40,000 people marched on the border with Gaza. Israeli army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis said Monday's number of protesters at the fence is "unprecedented," yet still lower than what Hamas wished for and predicted.
With inputs from BBC, AFP and Harretz