In a First, UN to Commemorate Nakba Day in May

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speaks during a conference to support Jerusalem at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, on Feb. 12, 2023. (AP)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speaks during a conference to support Jerusalem at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, on Feb. 12, 2023. (AP)
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In a First, UN to Commemorate Nakba Day in May

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speaks during a conference to support Jerusalem at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, on Feb. 12, 2023. (AP)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speaks during a conference to support Jerusalem at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, on Feb. 12, 2023. (AP)

The UN will commemorate Nakba Day, which marks the creation of the state of Israel in historical Palestine, for the first time in 2023, according to media reports Saturday.

"Commemorating the Nakba must be at the top of our priorities in order to preserve our narrative, which we must adhere to and convey to the whole world," the Palestinian WAFA news agency quoted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as saying.

According to Anadolu Agency, Abbas urged all Palestinians to commemorate the Palestinian tragedy of 1948 "to confront all lies and false narratives that attempt to distort history and facts."

"What Palestinians everywhere are required to do is to commemorate this tragedy, because it is the first time that the global community does not deny the Nakba," he continued.

"On these blessed days, we call on all our people to stand together to face the challenges facing our cause, our land and our sanctities, and to focus our compass towards confronting the occupation and getting rid of it," he stressed.

Nakba Day is marked annually by Palestinians on May 15 to remember the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes and areas in 1948 after the founding of Israel.



US Says It’s Aware of Palestinian American Teen’s Killing by Israeli Forces in West Bank 

Mourners carry the body of 14-year-old Palestinian-American Omar Mohammad Rabea, during his funeral at Turmus Ayya village near Ramallah , 07 April 2025. (EPA)
Mourners carry the body of 14-year-old Palestinian-American Omar Mohammad Rabea, during his funeral at Turmus Ayya village near Ramallah , 07 April 2025. (EPA)
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US Says It’s Aware of Palestinian American Teen’s Killing by Israeli Forces in West Bank 

Mourners carry the body of 14-year-old Palestinian-American Omar Mohammad Rabea, during his funeral at Turmus Ayya village near Ramallah , 07 April 2025. (EPA)
Mourners carry the body of 14-year-old Palestinian-American Omar Mohammad Rabea, during his funeral at Turmus Ayya village near Ramallah , 07 April 2025. (EPA)

The US State Department said on Tuesday it was aware of the killing by Israeli forces of a Palestinian American teenager in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and was seeking more information about the incident.

A State Department spokesperson made the comments to reporters when asked about the killing of US citizen Omar Mohammad Rabea, 14, and the shooting of two other teenagers.

"We are certainly aware of that dynamic," the State Department spokesperson said. "There is an investigation that is going on. We are aware of the reports from the Israeli army that this was a counterterrorism act, we need to learn more about the nature of what happened on the ground."

The Palestinian foreign ministry condemned the weekend incident as an "extra-judicial killing" by Israeli forces during a raid. A local mayor said Rabea was shot along with two other teenagers by an Israeli settler and that the Israeli army pronounced him dead after detaining him.

The Israeli military said it shot a "terrorist" who endangered civilians by hurling rocks.

"We don't have the complete picture of what was going on the ground," the State Department spokesperson added.

The family of the teenager, who was a New Jersey native, said he was shot multiple times. Local community leaders gathered at the Palestinian American Community Center in Clifton, New Jersey, on Tuesday to pay tribute to him and demand justice.

Israel has expanded and consolidated settlements in the occupied West Bank as part of the steady integration of these territories into the state of Israel in breach of international law, the UN human rights office said last month.

Settler violence in the West Bank, including incursions into occupied territory and raids, has intensified since the start of Israel's war in Gaza that has killed over 50,000, according to Gaza's health ministry, and led to genocide and war crimes accusations that Israel denies.

The Israeli onslaught in Gaza followed a Hamas attack in October 2023 in which 1,200 were killed and about 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.