While the occupying Israeli forces occupied 774 Palestinian villages and towns in the Nakba, they completely destroyed 531 of them, carried out 70 massacres against the Palestinians, and killed about 15 thousand people.
The symbol of forced migration, looting and massacres for millions of Palestinians who have lived in exile for decades, the "Nakba" represents a pain that has not ceased for 75 years.
The Palestinians call that day "Nakba", which means "Great Catastrophe", when Israel was founded on the historical Palestinian lands on May 14, 1948, when they were subjected to forced migration and massacres.
Millions of Palestinians who are still under occupation and blockade and living as refugees dream of returning to their homeland on the 75th anniversary of the Nakba.
NEARLY ONE MILLION PALESTINIANS EXPORTED
The date of May 15, which the Palestinians call "Nakba", is perceived in the minds of Palestinian and Israeli societies in a diametrically opposite way.
For Israelis, May 15, the day of the "foundation of a state", means the beginning of a series of disasters that started with the forcible removal of 957 thousand people, corresponding to 67 percent of their population, from their homeland and the destruction of the cultural and social fabric, and continues until today for Palestinians.
Most of the Palestinians in the Nakba process were forcibly displaced and deported to the occupied West Bank, Gaza Strip and neighboring Arab countries.
Since then, with the increase in population, the number of Palestinian refugees worldwide has reached 6 million 20 thousand. About 5.3 million of these are registered with the United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
AT LEAST 15 THOUSAND PEOPLE KILLED, 675 VILLAGES AND TOWNS DESTROYED
Terrorist Israel was established on approximately 27 thousand square kilometers and more than 85 percent of historical Palestinian territory.
While the Israeli occupation forces occupied 774 Palestinian villages and towns in Nakba, they completely destroyed 531 of them, carried out 70 massacres against the Palestinians and killed about 15 thousand people.
Israeli forces destroyed 675 Palestinian villages and towns in the Nakba and killed thousands of Palestinians.
Many historic Palestinian cities were also Judaized. In this process, Bedouin tribes living in the Negev Desert region were displaced.
In addition, the cultural identity was targeted by changing the names of the settlements.
NEKBE IS A STILL CONTINUING PROCESS
Many historic Palestinian cities were also Judaized, as Palestinians were subjected to destruction, killing and deportation by Israel in the Nakba.
However, the Nakba is not a finished event, consisting of a "Great Catastrophe" in the past, but a tragedy that still continues today in the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Nakba continues through methods such as the deportation of Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem occupied by Israel in 1967, the destruction of their homes, and the establishment of illegal Jewish occupation units on Palestinian lands.
Palestinians living in historic Palestinian territories such as the Old City, Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan neighborhoods of occupied Jerusalem, the Mesafir Yatta region of the occupied West Bank, and the Najaf (Negev) Desert region within Israel in the south of the country are experiencing displacement and gradual relocation.
PALESTINIAN POPULATION INCREASED 10 TIMES SINCE NEKBE
On the other hand, the population of Palestinians has increased nearly 10 times since the Nakba (Great Catastrophe) in 1948, when they were forced to leave their land.
According to the data of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, despite the displacement of close to 1 million Palestinians in 1948, the total number of Palestinians in the world reached 14 million 300 thousand at the end of 2022, increasing nearly 10 times since the Nakba.
Despite the destruction, killing and deportation, the number of Palestinians, which fell to 150,000 in Arab towns and villages in Israel established in those years, rose to approximately 1 million 700 thousand by the end of 2021.
The Palestinian population in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, reached approximately 3 million 200 thousand people by the end of 2022, and approximately 2 million 200 thousand people in the Gaza Strip.