RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Over 80 Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli forces near Ramallah on Tuesday, medics said, as protesters commemorated the Nakba, or catastrophe, of their exile in 1948.
After a mass rally in Ramallah's clock square, protesters headed to Israel's Ofer detention center and the Qalandiya checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem to commemorate the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians during the founding of the state of Israel.
Medics said 63 Palestinians were injured outside Ofer prison and 21 were hurt at Qalandiya as Israeli forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said forces used riot dispersal means at protesters hurling rocks.
In Gaza City, thousands of demonstrators from all factions headed to UN Headquarters carrying Palestinian flags.
Hamas lawmaker Musheer al-Masri told protesters the right of refugees to return "will not be forgotten or bargained for because it is a right for all Palestinians."
"Sixty-four years after the Nakba, we stand here while occupation is still sitting heavily on our land committing massacres against our people," al-Masri said.
He also recalled Britain's historic role in the Nakba and accused the US of complicity in continuing the tragedy by its repeated vetoes of resolutions in the UN.
Senior Fatah leader Zakariyya Al-Agha also called for the right of return.
"The Palestinian people insist on their right to return to the Palestinian territory occupied in 1948," he told demonstrators.
Front Page Features