RAMALLAH, Palestine

The Palestinian people are set to mark the Nakba (Great Catastrophe) on Wednesday amid the continued Israeli devastating onslaught against the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7.

Palestinians use the word "Nakba" in reference to the events of 1948, when armed Zionist militias forced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to leave their homes and villages under the pressure of bombing and mass massacres in the historical lands of Palestine, pushing them further into the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and neighboring countries, in a major ethnic cleansing move prior to the announcement of the independence of Israel.

According to a report by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, since 1948, around 134,000 Palestinians and Arabs have been killed both inside and outside Palestine.

On May 15 of every year, Palestinians worldwide commemorate the Nakba through a series of activities and events.

Israel's establishment

On the evening of May 14, 1948, Israel was announced as a state on the land of historic Palestine, and the US was the first country in the world to recognize it.

On the Nakba anniversary, the Palestinians remember the Nov. 2, 1917 Balfour declaration, a document that laid the groundwork for Israel's creation.

Under that declaration or promise, Britain granted the land of Palestine, which it did not own, to the Zionist movement to establish a “national home.”

Since Israel's creation, Palestinians have been entangled in the decades-long conflict with Israel which has not officially ended yet despite moves by some Arab countries to normalize their relations with the latter.

The Nakba in figures

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said in its recent report that the Nakba in 1948 caused the expulsion of nearly 1 million Palestinians out of 1.4 million who were residing in 1,300 villages and towns.

Under the attacks of the Zionist gangs, the Palestinians were forced to flee toward the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and neighboring Arab countries.

Israel seized control during the Nakba of 774 Palestinian villages and towns, including 531 towns and villages that were completely destroyed by the Zionist gangs.

The gangs also committed more than 70 massacres in the course of the Nakba events that left over 15,000 Palestinians killed, according to PCBS.

Palestinians' number 'doubled 10 times'

PCBS said that by the end of 2023, the total number of Palestinian people worldwide reached 14.6 million, meaning that the number of Palestinians has doubled around 10 times since the Nakba event.

It noted that 5.5 million are living inside Palestine (the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem), 1.75 million still live in the lands of 1948 (Israel), 6.5 million in Arab countries, and nearly 770,000 others living in other countries.

The figures released by PCBS indicate that "Palestinians represented 50.3% of the population living in historical Palestine, while Jews constituted 49.7% by the end of 2023."

It added that "Israeli occupation exploits more than 85% of the total land in historical Palestine."

Settlements and arrests

As of the end of 2022, the number of Israeli military checkpoints and settlements in the West Bank reached 483, with the settler population reaching 745,467, mainly in Jerusalem.

A significant increase in settlement construction was observed in 2023, with Israeli authorities approving plans for more than 18,000 units, including in Jerusalem.

In 2022, Israeli authorities seized 26,000 acres of Palestinian land in the West Bank, a number that increased to 50,526 acres in 2023.

After Oct. 7, when Israel’s offensive on Gaza began, the official Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said Israeli planning authorities subjected to study “a total of 52 structural plans for the purpose of building a total of 8,829 colonial units on an area of 6,852 decares (1,692 acres), of which 1,895 units were approved.”

As of the arrests, according to data from the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society and the Palestinian Authority’s Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, approximately 1 million people have been detained since 1967.

By the end of April, the number of detainees in Israeli prisons reached 9,400, including 3,600 held without trial.

Ongoing war in Gaza

Since Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has destroyed or severely damaged a total of 89,000 buildings in Gaza, including 104 belonging to the UN.

The cost of the war in Gaza, including damage to infrastructure, roads, electricity, water networks, and agricultural land, is estimated to total $30 billion.

In the West Bank, Israel partially or completely demolished 659 buildings and facilities in 2023.

Also, demolition orders were issued for 1,333 Palestinian facilities on the grounds of lacking permits.

At least 35,173 Palestinians have been killed and 79,061 others injured in a brutal Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip since the Hamas attack that killed nearly 1,200 people.

More than seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Tel Aviv is committing genocide in Gaza, ordering it to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara