Mourners and relatives carry the body of eight-month-old Palestinian infant Laila al-Ghandour, who died after inhaling tear gas during a protest at the Israel-Gaza border in Gaza City, on May 15, 2018. On Monday, Israeli forces shot dead dozens of Palestinians and injured more than 2,000 others in a day-long confrontation along the Gaza strip-Israel border. (Xinhua/Wissam Nassar)
GAZA/RAMALLAH, May 15 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinians on Tuesday marked the 70th anniversary of the Nakba Day, or "the Day of Catastrophe," to demand their rights of return to homes occupied by Israel in the 1948 war.
The Israeli army has killed 61 Palestinians and wounded 1,771 others since Monday, when the U.S. relocated embassy to the disputed holy city of Jerusalem, fuelling more violent protests among the Palestinians, according to medics in Gaza's Health Ministry.
On Tuesday, a general strike mourning the Palestinians shot dead in eastern Gaza on Monday swept the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, where schools, universities, shops and banks all closed down.
In the Gaza Strip, thousands joined the funeral procession for more than 20 Palestinians killed on Monday, chanting slogans against Israel and calling for revenge.
In the West Bank, the 70-second Nakba alarm was raised at noon to declare the start of popular activities. Marches and rallies were organized in the streets of several towns amid anger and grief.
Mohamed Ou'lian, the Palestinian coordinator of the Nakba activity, told Xinhua that protests broke out across West Bank, mainly in Bethlehem, Hebron, al-Bireh and Nablus.
He said the U.S. embassy relocation to Jerusalem "is an attempt to strike the Palestinian national program," calling for the Palestinians to rally for the establishment of an independent Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society in the West Bank said in an official press statement that more than 22 Palestinians were shot and wounded by rubber bullets and dozens others suffered tear gas suffocation on Tuesday.
Sallah al-Khawaja, coordinator for the committees against the settlements, slammed the U.S. for "leading an unjust war against the Palestinian people instead of supporting peace in the Middle East."
Meanwhile, the Palestinian consensus government in the West Bank called on the UN to shoulder its historic responsibility toward the Palestinian people and their cause in its weekly cabinet meeting.
The government demanded "the return of the Palestinian refugees to their homes and properties in accordance with Resolution 194."
"The energy of the Palestinian people is not exhausted by sacrifice, and its vitality brings us back from time to time under the ashes," it added.
Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said the Palestinian leadership decided to file a legal case against Israel with the International Criminal Court over the settlement activity on the occupied Palestinian territory.
In the 1948 war, 957,000 Palestinians, or 66 percent of the Palestinians who lived in historical Palestine, were expelled and displaced.
