Palestinians mark 76 years of dispossession on Wednesday amidst fear of a repeat of their painful history.
Palestinians refer to the day as the “Nakba,” which is the Arabic word for catastrophe.
Around 700,000 Palestinians – much of the pre-war population – fled or were driven from their homes before and during the 1948 war that followed Israel’s establishment.
Following Israeli victory, Israel refused to allow the Palestinians to return to avoid a Palestinian majority within its borders.
Instead, the group formed a seemingly permanent refugee community with a current population of around 6 million. Most live in impoverished camps in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and the Israeli occupied West Bank.
The refugee camps have always been a bastion of Palestinian militancy.
Israel’s rejection of what Palestinians say is their right to return has been a core grievance in the conflict.
The war on Gaza, which started following the October 7 attack on Israel, has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians according to local health officials.
It is by far the deadliest round of fighting in the long conflict.
