1948 / Nakba / Palestinians forced from their lands

United Nations, January 16 (RHC)-- The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) says Israel has forcibly displaced a considerably large number of Palestinians during its continuing genocidal campaign in the besieged Gaza Strip.

The UN agency on Monday provided some updates about the Israeli bombardment in 100 days and the ensuing displacement of masses.  In a statement posted on X, UNRWA said, “An entire generation of children is traumatized, thousands have been killed, maimed, and orphaned. People live through the unliveable.”

The UN agencies and aid groups say almost two million people, nearly 90 percent of the population, have been displaced since October 7, 2023, when Israel launched its aggression against the besieged territory.

UNRWA also posted a video that went through 100 days of hostilities in Gaza in 100 seconds.

Philippe Lazzarini, the UNRWA chief, recently labeled Israel’s onslaught on the besieged Palestinian territory a stain for humanity.  “The massive death, destruction, displacement, hunger, loss, and grief of the last 100 days are staining our shared humanity.”

In a statement released on Sunday, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said 100 days have passed “and the Israeli occupation has turned Gaza into an uninhabitable place, committed horrific crimes, and forcibly displaced approximately 2 million people.”

On May 15, 1948, some 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly evicted from their land by Israeli forces and took refuge mainly in the occupied Wes Bank, the Gaza Strip and Palestine’s neighboring states. Today, around 5 million Palestinians are still displaced and are denied the right to return to their homeland.

The Israeli regime is trying to ‘deport the majority of the civilian population en masse’ as part of its plan to ‘permanently alter’ the composition of Gaza’s population, a UN expert has warned.

The civilian infrastructure there has sustained extensive damage as a result of the relentless Israeli bombing.  Latest figures show nearly 100 schools and universities and more than 140 mosques in the Gaza Strip have been completely destroyed.  More than 80 hospitals and health centers are already out of service.