On the 78th Anniversary of the Nakba The Palestinian People Face a New Chapter of the Ongoing Nakba Amid Blatant International Failure

Date:14 May 2026

Press Release

On the 78th Anniversary of the Nakba: The Palestinian People Face a New Chapter of the Ongoing Nakba Amid Blatant International Failure

Today, Friday, 15 May 2026, marks the 78th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba, that ongoing historical crime which began in 1948 with the forced displacement of more than 750,000 Palestinians, the destruction of more than 531 Palestinian villages and towns, and the commission of dozens of massacres that marked the beginning of a human and legal tragedy whose chapters continue to this day.

This anniversary comes at a time when the Palestinian people, in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and occupied Jerusalem, are experiencing one of the bloodiest and most catastrophic chapters in their modern history, amid the continuing crime of genocide and the systematic aggression carried out by the Israeli occupation against Palestinian civilians.

Data issued by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics on the 78th anniversary of the Nakba indicate that the number of Palestinians worldwide has reached about 15.5 million, including 7.4 million living in historic Palestine, while about 8.1 million live in the diaspora, including 6.8 million in Arab countries, reflecting the continuing effects of the Nakba across generations and the ongoing suffering of exile and deprivation of the right of return.

The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (ICSPR) affirms that the Nakba is no longer merely a historical event commemorated annually, but has become a renewed daily reality in which the occupation reproduces policies of forced displacement and ethnic cleansing, especially in the Gaza Strip, which has been turned by systematic destruction into an area unfit for life as a result of the targeting of infrastructure, hospitals, and schools, and the deprivation of the population of the minimum conditions necessary for human survival.

Documented field data point to a catastrophic scale of human losses, with more than 75,000 people killed, including at least 28,000 children and 19,000 women, while more than 10,000 remain missing under the rubble, as rescue and relief teams remain unable to reach them because of the ongoing aggression and lack of means. The number of injured has also exceeded 105,000, with thousands suffering permanent disabilities and amputations, amid the near-total collapse of the health system and the destruction or damage of much of its infrastructure, leading to the spread of disease, famine, and acute malnutrition, especially among children and the elderly.

More than two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are living under repeated forced displacement, with residents compelled to flee multiple times in less than two years, and most of them now living in tents and shelters lacking the minimum requirements of human life amid catastrophic living and health conditions.

In the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem, policies of ethnic cleansing continue through home demolitions and the displacement of Palestinian families, alongside escalating armed attacks by settlers under the protection of occupation forces. The year 2026 has also seen unprecedented settlement expansion through the approval of new settlement plans and the confiscation of thousands of dunums of Palestinian land under various pretexts, deepening the apartheid system and imposing colonial facts on the ground.

In the same context, thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons continue to suffer under harsh conditions that amount to war crimes, including torture, medical neglect, enforced disappearance, and systematic human rights violations.

As the Commission salutes the steadfastness of the Palestinian people wherever they are, it stresses that the occupation’s continued denial of Palestinian rights, foremost among them the right of return under UN General Assembly Resolution 194, is mainly due to the failure of the international community to enforce respect for its own resolutions and to the ongoing policy of impunity enjoyed by the occupying power.

The Commission further affirms that justice for the Palestinian people will not be possible without ending Israeli colonial occupation, enabling the Palestinian people to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination, and guaranteeing Palestinian refugees their right to return to their homes and properties from which they were forcibly displaced, as rights guaranteed under international law and UN resolutions, which cannot be extinguished by the passage of time or by attempts to impose faits accomplis by force.

The Commission also warns that the current international silence and failure do not constitute neutrality, but in practice amount to a green light for the continuation of genocide and the reproduction of a new Nakba targeting the Palestinian people’s existence and their historical and political rights.

Accordingly, the Commission calls for the following:

Urging the international community, and the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention, to take immediate action to stop the crime of genocide, lift the unlawful siege on the Gaza Strip, and ensure the unhindered flow of humanitarian and medical aid.

Calling on the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice to accelerate investigation and accountability procedures against the leaders of the occupation, and to treat what is taking place in Gaza, the West Bank, and Jerusalem as part of an ongoing Nakba that requires urgent and effective international judicial intervention.

Affirming rejection of all attempts to undermine the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), as an international witness to the refugee tragedy and a humanitarian and legal pillar that must not be undermined until the right of return is realized.

Calling for a comprehensive and immediate halt to all settlement activities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including the dismantling of illegal settlements and an end to home demolitions and land confiscation, as grave violations of international law.

Reaffirming the inalienable national rights of the Palestinian people, foremost among them their right to self-determination, the end of Israeli colonial occupation of all Palestinian territories occupied in 1967, and the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties from which they were forcibly displaced, in accordance with UN General Assembly Resolution 194 and all rules of international law and international legitimacy.

The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (ICSPR)