Israel-Hamas War: Palestinians Mark the Nakba in the Middle East


JERUSALEM (AP) — Palestinians across the Middle East are marking the anniversary of their mass expulsion from what is now Israel with protests and other events on Wednesday amid growing concern over the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.

gave Naqba, Arabic for “destruction.” Refers to the 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were expelled from what is today Israel before and during the 1948 war surrounding its creation, in which five Arab countries attacked the fledgling state.

Twice that number have been displaced in Gaza. Since the start of the latest warWhich started with Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7. UN agencies say 550,000 people, about a quarter of Gaza's population of 2.3 million, have been newly displaced in the past week alone, as Israeli forces shell parts of the southern city of Rafah on the border with Egypt. have moved into parts and have re-invaded the northern districts. Gaza.

“We lived through the Nakba not just once, but many times,” said Umm Shadi Sheikh Khalil, who was displaced from Gaza City and now lives in a tent in the central town of Deir al-Balah. are

The refugees and their descendants, who number about six million, live in refugee camps set up in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. In Gaza, they are the majority of the population, with most families now pushed out of central and southern Israel.

Israel rejects what the Palestinians say is their right of return, because if fully implemented it could result in a Palestinian majority within Israel's borders.

Palestinians search for debris after an Israeli attack on a school run by UNRWA, the United Nations agency that helps Palestinian refugees, in Nusirat, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, May 14, 2024.  (AP Photo/Abdul Kareem Hanna)

Palestinians search for debris after an Israeli attack on a school run by UNRWA, the United Nations agency that helps Palestinian refugees, in Nusirat, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, May 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdul Kareem Hanna)

Palestinians hold the body of a dead child rescued from the rubble of a building destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in Nasirat, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, May 14, 2024.  (AP Photo/Abdul Karim Hana)

Palestinians hold the body of a dead child rescued from the rubble of a building destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in Nasirat, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, May 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdul Karim Hana)

Painful memories

Refugee camps in Gaza, built over the years in dense urban neighborhoods, have seen some of the heaviest fighting of the war. In other camps in the region, the fighting has brought back painful memories of earlier rounds of violence in decades-old conflicts with no end in sight.

At a center for elderly residents of Beirut's Shatila refugee camp, Amina Taher recalls the day her family's home in the village of Deir al-Qassi in what is now northern Israel was shelled in 1948 by Israeli forces. had fallen He said the house was next to a school that was being used as a base by Palestinian fighters.

AP reporter Ben Thomas reports that the Biden administration is sending more weapons and ammunition to Israel.

Tahir, then 3, was pulled from the wreckage unharmed, but her 1-year-old sister was killed. Now he has seen the same scenes in news coverage of Gaza.

He said that when I used to watch these news, I would mentally break down because then I remembered when the house fell on me. “What was the harm of killing these children like this?”

Daoud Nasir, who now also lives in Shatila, was 6 years old when his family fled from Balad al-Sheikh, a village near Haifa. He said his father tried to return to his village in the early years after 1948, when the border was relatively unsecured, but found a Jewish family living in his home.

Nasir said that if the border was not so heavily guarded, he would attempt the same journey. “I will run. I am ready to walk from here to there and sleep under olive trees on my own land,” he said.

There is no end to war.

The latest battle has begun. Hamas attack in southern IsraelThrough some of the same areas where Palestinians fled their villages 75 years ago. Palestinian militants killed around 1,200 people that day, mostly civilians, and took another 250 hostage.

Israel responded with one of the heaviest military offensives in recent history, razing entire Gaza neighborhoods and forcing nearly 80 percent of the population to flee their homes.

Gaza's health ministry says more than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed, without distinguishing between civilians and fighters in its count. The United Nations says there is widespread starvation and northern Gaza is in one. “Total famine.”

Israel says its aim is to eliminate Hamas and return an estimated 100 hostages, and the remains of more than 30 others, who were left behind during a ceasefire last year. Even after doing this group has

Palestinians hold the body of a dead child rescued from the rubble of a building destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in Nasirat, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, May 14, 2024.  (AP Photo/Abdul Karim Hana)

Palestinians hold the body of a dead child rescued from the rubble of a building destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in Nasirat, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, May 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdul Karim Hana)

Palestinian rescuers dig around the remains of a man in the rubble of a building destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in Nusirat, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, May 14, 2024.  (AP Photo/Abdul Karim Hana)

Palestinian rescuers dig around the remains of a man in the rubble of a building destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in Nusirat, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, May 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdul Karim Hana)

Israeli troops launched operations in Rafah last week, seizing a nearby crossing into Egypt and moving into the city's eastern districts in a battle with Hamas fighters. Although Israel has yet to threaten a full-scale invasion, the infiltration has already occurred. Chaos in the cityAbout 1.4 million Palestinians from across the region flocked there.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised victory, portraying the city as the last bastion of Hamas.

But militants have regrouped elsewhere in Gaza, even in some of the hardest-hit areas, raising the prospect of a protracted insurgency. The Israeli military called for additional withdrawals from Gaza City on Wednesday, indicating it plans another incursion into the territory that was an early target of the war.

The regrouping of Hamas has sparked criticism at home and abroad for Netanyahu's apparent lack of a post-war vision for Gaza. On Wednesday, the Israeli leader said it was impossible to prepare for a post-war reality while Hamas was still intact.

The fighting in Rafah has made the nearby Karim Shlom crossing – Gaza's main cargo terminal – inaccessible to most Palestinians. Israel's occupation of the Rafah crossing with Egypt on the Gaza side has forced it to close and strained relations with the Arab country. Aid groups say the loss of both crossings has disrupted humanitarian efforts.

Palestinians look on at the destruction after an Israeli attack on a school run by UNRWA, the UN refugee agency, in the Gaza Strip, Tuesday, May 14, 2024.  (AP Photo/Abdul Kareem Hanna)

Palestinians look on at the destruction after an Israeli attack on a school run by UNRWA, the UN refugee agency, in the Gaza Strip, Tuesday, May 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdul Kareem Hanna)

In a statement on Tuesday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry accused Israel of “distorting the facts” and condemned “desperate attempts” to blame Egypt for the continued closure of the crossing. Egyptian officials have said that the Rafah operation is a threat to both countries A decades-old peace treaty.

Shoukry was responding to remarks by Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, who said “Egypt needs to be persuaded to reopen the Rafah crossing to allow the continued flow of international humanitarian aid to Gaza.”

Egypt has played a key role in months-long mediation efforts aimed at brokering a ceasefire and hostage release between Israel and Hamas. The latest round of talks ended last week without any progress.

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Sewell reported from Beirut and Magdi from Cairo. Associated Press reporter Wafa Sharafa reported from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip.

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Follow AP's coverage of the battle. https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war



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