Israeli forces clash with Palestinians on Nakba Day

Dozens of people have been injured after Israeli regime forces fired live rounds to disperse thousands of Palestinian demonstrators marking the 67th anniversary of the Nakba Day (Day of the Catastrophe).

On Friday, thousands of Palestinians held massive rallies in Ramallah, Nablus, and al-Khalil (Hebron) in the occupied West Bank to express their resentment over the ongoing Israeli occupation. 

The angry protesters chanted slogans against the Tel Aviv regime’s expansionist agenda and the confiscation of Palestinian land by Israel.

Local residents and witnesses said that the demonstrations were largely peaceful until Israeli forces assaulted the protesters, fired teargas canisters and live bullets to break up the protests. The protesters pelted stones at Israeli forces in return.

Palestinian medical and security sources said that nearly three dozen people were injured in the fierce clashes.

A series of scuffles and fierce clashes also broke out at a demonstration outside Ofer military prison near the West Bank administrative center of Ramallah. 

Similar rallies were also held in several other towns and regions across the occupied territories.

Thousands of Palestinians also marched through al-Quds (Jerusalem) to mark the Nakba Day. A large number of demonstrators waved Palestinian flags and marched toward the holy al-Aqsa mosque compound.

Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip also took to the streets to voice their anger against the Israeli occupation of their land. Israeli forces also shot and injured several Nakba Day protesters near the blockaded enclave.

Thousands of protesters attended a massive rally in Gaza City. At the rally, a speaker from the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas called for "continuing the resistance against the enemy, Israel, until we liberate Palestine.”

Similar demonstrations were also held in some neighboring regional countries and other parts of the world. 

Abbas speech

Meanwhile, in a televised speech marking the Nakba Day, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas vowed to continue the popular struggle against the Israeli occupation. He also noted that Palestinian people will not let history repeat itself.

“What happened in 1948 will not happen again, our people are steadfast and are determined to stay in their homeland, to defend it and achieve independence,” Abbas said, adding, “United, we will foil all Israeli plans and conspiracies to marginalize the Palestinian cause; we will never accept a state with interim borders.”

Commenting on resuming talks with Tel Aviv, Abbas said negotiations cannot resume while Israel is pushing ahead with its settlement activities across the occupied lands.  “The new Israeli government and its head Benjamin Netanyahu must choose between occupation and peace.” 

Abbas also threatened to take action against Israel at international bodies, including the International Criminal Court (ICC), if the Tel Avivi regime fails to stop crimes against the Palestinians.  “Should they continue the colonialist policies, we will resume our international activities, including the UN and the ICC, to end this illegal occupation.”

Every year on May 15, Palestinians all over the world hold demonstrations to commemorate Nakba Day, which marks the anniversary of the forcible eviction of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homeland by Israelis and the creation of the Israeli regime in 1948.

On May 15, 1948, Israeli forces displaced some 700,000 Palestinians, forcing them to flee to different neighboring countries. Israeli soldiers also wiped nearly 500 Palestinian villages and towns off the map, leaving an estimated total of 4.7 million Palestinian refugees and their descendants dreaming of an eventual return to their ancestral homeland more than six decades later.

JR/AS/MHB

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