Palestinians Mark 78th Nakba Anniversary as Israel Targets Hamas Armed Wing in Gaza

Palestinians marked the 78th anniversary of the Nakba on Friday as Israel carried out airstrikes on the Palestinian Gaza Strip and said it was targeting Ezzedine Al-Haddad, the chief of the Hamas militant group's armed wing.

“In Pictures Millions of Palestinians are marking the 78th anniversary of the Nakba – Arabic for “catastrophe” – a term that refers to the mass expulsion and flight of some 750,000 Palestinians from their homes during the 1948 war surrounding the creation of Israel”

Al Jazeera

DW reported that Palestinians were marking the 78th anniversary of the Nakba, or "catastrophe," referring to the displacement of Palestinians during the 1948 war surrounding the creation of Israel, while also noting that Israeli military strikes hit southern Lebanon near the city of Tyre.

Al Jazeera

In Gaza, DW said Israeli airstrikes on Friday killed at least seven people including three women and a child, and that at least 50 were injured in strikes that targeted an apartment and a vehicle.

The same DW report said Israeli forces still occupy more than half of the Palestinian enclave, amid a deadlock over the next step in US President Donald Trump's post war plans for Gaza.

At the same time, DW said that since the October ceasefire at least 856 Palestinians have been killed, according to local health authorities, while the Israeli military puts the death toll among its soldiers within the same period at five.

TRT World framed the anniversary as a continuation of the Palestinian catastrophe, quoting Moonis Ahmar, Meritorious Professor of International Relations and former Dean Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Karachi, saying, "Thousands of Palestinians were killed in Gaza."

TRT World also quoted Ahmar describing displacement, saying, "Around 2.1 million people were displaced, the majority of them forced from their homes," and adding that the repetition of displacement in Gaza and the occupied West Bank helped create awareness in the Global North.

Amnesty International

In Ramallah, France 24 reported that Palestinians denounced new attempts to drive them from their lands as Israel proclaimed its willingness to conquer Gaza and conducted military operations in the occupied West Bank that emptied refugee camps.

France 24 included a Palestinian woman’s account that, "It has become a daily reality that we live in Gaza," as she said she lives without "security" and moves from tent to tent with her children.

France 24 also quoted Malak Radwan saying, "The Nakba is not just a displacement," and said she described it as seeing her son weaken and wither before her eyes with nothing she can do.

DW said the October ceasefire had significantly slowed Israeli attacks in Gaza and fighting with Hamas, but also reported that Israeli strikes on the strip have continued and intensified since a ceasefire in the US-Israeli war on Iran and Israel's war on Lebanon.

“Seventy-eight years later, Palestinian women relive the Nakba in a refugee camp in Gaza In the Refaat Alareer camp in Gaza, Palestinian women draw a parallel between the historical displacement of Palestinians and the reality of the ongoing Israeli war against the enclave Tarek Chouiref May 15, 2026 • Updated: May 15, 2026 Istanbul AA/Gaza/ Hosni Nedim Dozens of Palestinian women living in a refugee camp in central Gaza commemorated on Thursday the 78th anniversary of the Nakba ('catastrophe'), reviving scenes of displacement and loss that, they say, continue to shape Palestinian life since 1948”

Anadolu Ajansı

DW reported that both Israel and Hamas regularly accuse one another of violating the ceasefire, while also saying Israeli forces still occupy more than half of the Palestinian enclave amid a deadlock over the next step in Donald Trump's post war plans for Gaza.

France 24 said Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza fear new attempts to drive them from their lands, and it described anxieties about the future as commemorations began.

France 24 reported that the Israeli army launched an operation in Gaza, particularly in the north around refugee camps where people displaced in 1948 and their descendants live, and said, "this campaign has displaced at least 38,000 people due to evacuation orders, violence, and demolitions."

In the same France 24 report, AFP said demonstrators’ concerns included "the plan to annex the West Bank advocated by Israeli political figures" and "Israel’s ban on the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA)."