Hundreds join the March of Return in Upper al-Jalil, Palestine

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
14 May 2024 16:10

Palestinians in the occupied Upper al-Jalil participate in the March of Return commemorating the Nakba, calling for an end to the war in the Gaza Strip.

Image showing Palestinians from the Upper al-Jallil who gathered to commemorate the Nakba in occupied Palestine, on May 14, 2024. (Social media)

Hundreds of Palestinians participated, on Tuesday, in the March of Return in Upper al-Jalil, northern occupied Palestine, commemorating the 76th anniversary of the Israeli occupation of Palestine in 1948.

The Association for the Defense of the Rights of the Internally Displaced in the Israeli-occupied territories in 1948, supported by the Higher Follow-Up Committee, emphasized that "the Nakba is not just a memory, but a tangible and daily reality for Palestinians, especially the residents of Gaza Strip."

انطلاق #مسيرة_العودة الـ27 في #هوشة و #الكساير

(تصوير: إيناس مريح - "عرب 48") pic.twitter.com/42GUvKN6hi
— موقع عرب 48 (@arab48website) May 14, 2024

The committee demanded an end to the war and massacres against the Palestinian people.

Moussa Saghier, a member of the management of the Association for the Defense of the Internally Displaced, stated, "I was displaced from the village of Hosha, born in 1949 in Shefa Amr next to Usha village. Now, the settlements of Hosha and Ramat Yohanan are built on its ruins."

This association had called for widespread participation in the march, and in events marking the inevitable return to the lands of the villages of Hosha and al-Kassayer in the Shefa Amr district, under the slogan "Hands off Gaza, Stop the War Now."

“Our children and grandchildren will never forget #Palestine.”
Maryam Nemer Mahmoud's family bore witness to the heart-wrenching events of the #Nakba in Palestine, here’s her story. pic.twitter.com/DL30lh22qD
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) August 18, 2023

Palestinian population grew tenfold since '48 Nakba: Statistics bureau

The Palestinian Bureau of Statistics reported on Sunday that the number of Palestinians in Palestine and abroad has increased nearly tenfold since the Nakba of 1948.

The Bureau added in a statement that "despite the displacement of about one million Palestinians in 1948 and more than 200,000 Palestinians after the June 1967 war, the total number of Palestinians worldwide reached 14.63 million by the end of 2023."

Moreover, the statement underscored that "5.55 million of them [Palestinians] reside in the State of Palestine and about 1.75 million Palestinians in the 1948 territories, while the number of Palestinians in Arab countries reached about 6.56 million and those in foreign countries stand at about 772,000."

"Thus, the number of Palestinians in historic Palestine reached about 7.3 million Palestinians, while the number of Jews is estimated at 7.2 million by the end of 2023, which means that the number of Palestinians exceeds the number of Jews in historic Palestine," the statement added.

It was also mentioned that "the Israeli occupation exploits more than 85% of the total area of historic Palestine."

Additionally, the statement reviewed some of the events of the Nakba, which displaced or forced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians out of their cities and villages.

'Israel' seized 774 villages and towns

The statement mentioned that "more than one million Palestinians were displaced from a total of 1.4 million Palestinians residing in historic Palestine in 1948."

It explained that in 1948, "the Israeli occupation took control of 774 Palestinian villages and towns, 531 of which were completely destroyed, while the remainder were subjected to the occupation entity and its laws."

The statement added that "this process of cleansing was accompanied by more than 70 massacres committed by Zionist gangs against Palestinians, resulting in the martyrdom of more than 15,000 of them."

More than 134,000 Palestinians martyred

Regarding the number of Palestinians killed in the ongoing struggle with "Israel" over the past 76 years, the statement said that "more than 134,000 have been martyred defending Palestinian rights since the Nakba of 1948."

It continued, "The number of martyrs since the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000 until April 30, 2024, reached about 46,500 martyrs, in addition to about 35,000 martyrs in the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip from October 7, 2023, until May 7, 2024."

The statement reported that among the victims in Gaza are "more than 14,873 children and 9,801 women, in addition to more than 141 journalists, while more than 7,000 citizens are considered missing, most of whom are women and children, according to the records of the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip."

Regarding the West Bank, 492 martyrs have risen since the beginning of the Israeli occupation aggression on October 7, 2023, according to the statement.