Palestinians in Gaza are facing the gravest threat to their existence for decades, Islamic Relief says as the world marks Nakba Day.

The Nakba, or “catastrophe”, refers to the mass expulsion of Palestinians from their homeland in 1948 and is commemorated annually on 15 May. 

The dispossession that began in 1948 is a process that continues today with impunity. Palestinians in Gaza are being relentlessly bombed, starved, forced from their homes and threatened with permanent expulsion from their land. Senior Israeli officials have repeatedly stated their aim to make Gaza unliveable and force Palestinians out of the territory, or into confined areas that are effectively internment camps.

For 75 days Israel has shut off all aid and supplies such as food and medicine into Gaza, resulting in a humanitarian catastrophe. Children are starving to death as food runs out and famine conditions spread. Families are burnt alive as Israeli bombs tear through health centres, tents and shelters. Medics are operating in medieval conditions without electricity or painkillers. Almost every part of Palestinian infrastructure – homes, hospitals, schools, farms, shops – have been attacked and turned to rubble.

Over 70% of Gaza is now closed to Palestinians and either turned into Israeli military zones or under forced displacement orders. Hundreds of thousands of people have been ordered from their homes and herded into ever-shrinking areas, where deadly diseases are spreading due to severe overcrowding and destruction of sewage and water systems.

Gaza belongs to the Palestinian people and calls for Palestinians to be removed amount to ethnic cleansing. International governments must uphold their legal and moral obligations and act decisively to stop the ongoing atrocities, protect civilians and ensure Palestinians are not driven from their homeland. Failing to act makes them complicit in the destruction.