This year, on Thursday, May 15, Palestinians commemorate the 77th anniversary of the Nakba, or “catastrophe”, which marked the mass displacement of Palestinians in 1948— against the backdrop of ongoing Israeli military aggression in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
Nakba Day, observed annually on May 15, serves as a sombre reminder of this mass exodus. Entire communities were uprooted and dispersed across the West Bank, Gaza, and neighbouring Arab countries.
The Nakba refers to the events of 1948, when the British Mandate ended and armed Zionist militias seized large parts of Palestine, displacing approximately 750,000 Palestinians during the first Arab-Israeli war.
At that time, Israel took control of 774 Palestinian towns and villages. Of these, 531 were destroyed, while the rest came under Israeli rule and were subjected to occupation laws.
This year’s commemoration bears the slogan, “We will not leave… Palestine is for the Palestinians.”
In West Bank cities such as Ramallah and Hebron, as well as in several European capitals, demonstrators gathered to honour the victims of the Nakba and protest the ongoing occupation. Protesters condemned Israeli military operations in Gaza and demanded the right of return for Palestinian refugees displaced in 1948, the Wafaa News Agency reported.
Placards carried slogans such as “Our rights are not negotiable and are not subject to American dictates,” referencing US support for Israel.
It comes at a time when many see history repeating itself, as Israel’s war on Gaza—launched on October 7, 2023—has devastated the enclave, killing over 52,000 people, most of them women and children. Nearly 120,000 others have been injured, and thousands remain buried beneath rubble.
Although a ceasefire was announced in January, Israel has intensified its operations in Tulkarm, Jenin, and other parts of the occupied West Bank. Over 45,000 Palestinians have been displaced from refugee camps in Jenin and Tulkarm. In March, Israeli forces breached the ceasefire, continuing large-scale raids.
According to reports, as the bombs continue to fall on Gaza and refugee camps in the West Bank face relentless assault, Palestinians assert that the Nakba is not a chapter of history, but a continuing reality. Seventy-seven years after their mass displacement, they are still fighting for their right to exist, return, and live in freedom. The commemoration of the Nakba in 2025 is not only a tribute to past suffering—it is a call to acknowledge and end the injustices that persist today.
“Israel continues to inflict unimaginable suffering on the people living under its occupation, whilst rapidly expanding confiscation of land as part of its wider colonial aspirations. What we are witnessing could very well be another Nakba”, warned a UN Special Committee on May 9.
