News - Middle East: For the first time in its history, the United Nations has commemorated the 75th anniversary of Nakba Day or “Day of Catastrophe,” when Israel was created at the expense of the forced expulsion of about 750,000 Palestinians from their homeland.

According to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP)  organized a high-level special meeting on Monday from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. (New York time).

The event, which was held at the UN's New York headquarter, was the first of its kind in the history of the world body pursuant to the General Assembly mandate of November 30, 2022.

It was presided over by the chairman of the committee, Ambassador Cheikh Niang of Senegal, and will include a keynote address by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Senior UN officials and representatives of regional groups and civil societies also made statements to commemorate Nakba.

Abbas urges UN to 'suspend' Israel on Nakba anniversary

President Abbas called for Israel to end its “aggression” against Palestinians or otherwise be suspended from the United Nations during his speech to mark the Nakba Day.

Abbas went on to lambast Israel for having “never fulfilled its obligations and the prerequisites for its membership” of the United Nations.

The Palestinian president said there have been “around 1,000 resolutions” adopted by the UN General Assembly, Security Council and Human Rights Council related to Israel.

“To date, not one single resolution was implemented,” he said.

Abbas added that Nakba “did not start in 1948 and it did not stop after that date.”

“Israel, the occupying power, continues its occupation and its aggression against the Palestinian people and continues to deny this Nakba, and rejects international resolutions regarding the return of Palestinian refugees to their homeland,” he said.

Moreover, a special commemorative event will be staged in the General Assembly Hall from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The event seeks to shed light on the systematic ethnic cleansing of two-thirds of the Palestinian population by Zionist paramilitaries between 1947-1949, through live music, pictures, videos and personal testimonies.

Hamas: Israel has no legitimacy over any part of Palestine

Meanwhile, the Hamas resistance movement says Palestinians are commemorating the 75th anniversary of Nakba Day in the wake of another round of hostilities by the occupying Israeli regime, which they fought off alongside resistance fighters in the besieged Gaza Strip.

“During the recent Free People’s Revenge battle, our compatriots proved they were able to defend their national rights, avenge martyrs’ blood and make the Tel Aviv regime pay the price for its crimes against our people, land and holy sites,” the group said in a statement on Monday.

It added that 75 years have passed since the occupation of the Palestinian territories started, during which Israel has perpetrated the most heinous crimes and massacres and escalated its aggressive strategies.

“The Israeli regime has, however, failed to demoralize Palestinians, who continue to defend their land, uphold legitimate rights and refuse any attempt to undercut their valiant resistance,” Hamas underlined.

The Gaza-based movement also held Israel responsible for the suffering of millions of Palestinian refugees at home and abroad, stressing that their return to their ancestral hometowns is a sacred and inalienable right.

It also urged the international community as well as Arab and Muslim nations to increase their solidarity with Palestinians, support their struggle and enable them to defend themselves and liberate their land and holy sites.

Source: Press TV