Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za

3-minute read
19 May 2024 | 18:52 CAT

As the Palestinian-Israeli conflict entered its 222nd day on Wednesday, Palestinians marked the 76th anniversary of Nakba day or Dhikran-Nakaba- “The memory of the Catastrophe” comprising the massive killing and displacement of Palestinians that occurred in 1948 following the establishment of the state of Israel.

The Nakba of 1948 saw at least 750,000 Palestinians forcibly expelled from their homes, with at least 15,000 killed by the IOF.

In the West Bank city of Ramallah, thousands of Palestinians gathered to commemorate the Palestinian victims of 76 years ago and protest against the ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza that have killed more than 35,000 Palestinians in the enclave.

Protesters waved Palestinian flags, held portraits of Palestinians who were expelled from their homes in 1948, displayed pictures of refugee camps in the Gaza Strip, and carried banners bearing slogans including “The Nakba is recurring in Gaza now.”

Now, many Palestinians fear a repeat of their painful history on an even more cataclysmic scale.

All across Gaza, Palestinians in recent days have been loading up cars and donkey carts or setting out on foot to already overcrowded tent camps as Israel expands its offensive.

“The Nakba is ongoing and the catastrophe which we remember from 1948, starting before 1948 continues to this day. On October 06 2023 over 200 Palestinians, including many children had been murdered in the West Bank until that point in 2023,” Islamic Scholar & Professor at University of Sulaimany Medical College, Dr Abdul Wahid, explains in a discussion on Radio Islam International.

Dr Wahid pointed out there has been an ongoing invasion of the West Bank, encroaching on the land which the international community said is occupied land.

Dr Wahid argues, “what we’ve seen in the seven months after that is horrific and off a scale that we have not seen since 1948. The level of displacement, cruelty and bloodshed.”

Echoing history, Gaza is now experiencing a devastating crisis with over 1.5 million Palestinians displaced and more than 70% of residential units destroyed since October 07. This has rendered much of the Strip uninhabitable, as many Palestinians are now living in tents.

On May 15, 204, Israeli airstrikes resulted in the highest daily death toll among civilians in weeks, killing at least 82 Palestinians.

Listen to the full interview on The Daily Round-Up with Moulana Junaid Kharsany and Dr Abdul Wahid here.