Overview
- Millions marked the 78th Nakba anniversary, which fell Friday, with Gaza residents tying 1948’s expulsion to the current mass displacement.
- Local health officials report over 72,700 Palestinians killed since Israel’s post–Oct. 7 offensive, while U.N. estimates say about 90% of people in Gaza lost their homes and now live in crowded tent camps.
- Nakba survivors and families say today’s crisis is worse than 1948 because many have been uprooted repeatedly, large areas of Gaza remain under Israeli control, and towns like Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya have been flattened.
- With food, fuel, and materials scarce, families are reviving older skills to get by, including drying and preserving food, cooking over open fires, digging basic sanitation, and rebuilding rooms with mud and stone.
- UNRWA’s work has been curbed by Israeli actions, including demolitions in East Jerusalem and moves to bar operations, as staff carried key archives—birth, death, marriage records, and refugee cards—through checkpoints to preserve refugee rights.