78 Years Since Nakba, Palestinians Remain Resolute In Defending Their Homeland - Ambassador

By Voon Miaw Ping

KUALA LUMPUR, May 15 (Bernama) -- The Palestinians remain steadfast in staying on their land despite the widespread devastation, forced displacements and aggression caused by Israeli regime in the occupied territories. 

Palestinian Ambassador to Malaysia Jehad Fouad Alqdra said Palestinians are a strong-willed and resilient people who will not surrender to the regime’s oppression.

As Palestinians marked the 78th anniversary of the Nakba, today, Alqdra said the1948 mass displacement had only strengthened their resolve never to abandon their homeland again.

Recalling the tragedy, he said many Palestinians were “deceived” into leaving their homes temporarily during the period, believing they would be allowed to return within a month.

But they never could.

“They (Palestinias) took their (home) keys, and were told they would return after one month. But until this moment, they cannot go back,” he told Bernama in an interview at his office.

The Nakba, which means “catastrophe” in Arabic and observed annually on May 15, commemorates the mass displacement and dispossession of Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

Before the Nakba, Palestine was a multi-ethnic and multicultural society. The war led to the permanent displacement of more than half of the Palestinian population at that time.

Alqdra who originated from Khan Younis said conditions in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank continue to deteriorate daily due to Israel’s congoing aggression, despite a ceasefire that had took effect since October last year.

He said in Gaza, more than 85 per cent of the critical infrastructure and facilities in the enclave have been severely damaged, while restrictions and blockade on the entry of essential food and medicine supplies have exacerbating the humanitarian crisis. 

“The situation is deteriorating. People in Gaza, including my own family are living in tents where they have to endure harsh weather and severe living conditions amid acute shortages of basic necessities like food, water and medicine.

“Could you imagine that we are in the 21st century and the people living in the cramped tents?” he said.

He said although Palestinians have to endure such severe hardship and deplorable conditions, they remained steadfast in defending their land.

“Because we have experienced it in 1948, so we took a decision, to live on our land with dignity resilience, and not leaving it,” he said.

According to the latest report by the Palestinian government, at least 72,740 people had been killed while 172, 555 others wounded in by Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza since October 7, 2023.

The number of displaced people continue to rise, exceeding 800,000. The ambassador also said violence by illegal Israeli settlers in West Bank has intensified with Palestinians facing brutal attacks, land grabs and confiscation of properties and livestock, and movement restrictions. 

“The settlers are attacking civilians, shepherds and farmers, while more settlements continue to be built on Palestinian land,” he said.

The fatalities were also on the rise, with at least 1,160 including 242 children killed as of May 3. 

Latest statistics from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) showed that more than 5,900 Palestinians in the West Bank have been displaced since October 7, 2023, including about 2,000 people in 2026 alone.

The agency also reported that in 14 Palestinians were killed in settler attacks in the West Bank. 

-- BERNAMA