W. Bank Palestinians commemorate 1948 'Catastrophe'

RAMALLAH, Palestine

Palestinians took to the streets of the occupied West Bank on Tuesday to mark the passage of 70 years since Israel’s establishment in 1948 -- an event they refer to as the “Nakba” or “The Catastrophe”.

Waving Palestinian and black flags, hundreds of demonstrators marched through Ramallah to Israel’s Beit El military checkpoint north of the city.

As they marched, demonstrators waved banners bearing the text of UN General Assembly Resolution 194 (1948), which confirmed the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes in historical Palestine.

Israeli forces deployed at the checkpoint dispersed demonstrators with teargas, rubber bullets and live ammunition.

According to the Palestinian Red Crescent (PRC), 30 Palestinian marchers were injured by rubber bullets while 23 others were affected by exposure to teargas.

In the West Bank cities of Hebron and Bethlehem, meanwhile, one demonstrator was injured by live ammunition while 13 others were hurt by rubber bullets, the PRC said in a statement.

And in the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank, one Palestinian protester was reportedly injured by live ammunition, while five others were struck by rubber bullets.

On Monday, at least 61 Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip by Israeli army cross-border gunfire during protests against the relocation of Washington’s Israel embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Since the Gaza rallies kicked off on Mar. 30, more than 100 Palestinian demonstrators have been killed -- and hundreds more injured -- by Israeli forces deployed along the other side of the border.