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.



Israeli Military Issues Thousands of Call-up Notices

FILE PHOTO: A picture released by the Israeli Army says to show Israeli soldiers conducting operations in a location given as Tel Al-Sultan area, Rafah Governorate, Gaza, in this handout image released April 2, 2025. Israeli Army/Handout via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: A picture released by the Israeli Army says to show Israeli soldiers conducting operations in a location given as Tel Al-Sultan area, Rafah Governorate, Gaza, in this handout image released April 2, 2025. Israeli Army/Handout via REUTERS
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Israeli Military Issues Thousands of Call-up Notices

FILE PHOTO: A picture released by the Israeli Army says to show Israeli soldiers conducting operations in a location given as Tel Al-Sultan area, Rafah Governorate, Gaza, in this handout image released April 2, 2025. Israeli Army/Handout via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: A picture released by the Israeli Army says to show Israeli soldiers conducting operations in a location given as Tel Al-Sultan area, Rafah Governorate, Gaza, in this handout image released April 2, 2025. Israeli Army/Handout via REUTERS

The Israeli military was issuing call-up notices to thousands of reservists on Saturday to support an expansion of its offensive in Gaza, Israeli media reported, after the prime minister announced that his upcoming visit to Azerbaijan was postponed.
The reservists will be deployed to Israel's border with Lebanon and in the occupied West Bank, replacing regular soldiers who will lead a new offensive in Gaza, the news site Ynet reported.
The military had no immediate comment, Reuters said.
Earlier, the prime minister's office announced that Benjamin Netanyahu was rescheduling his May 7-11 visit to Azerbaijan, citing recent developments in Gaza and Syria.
The office, which also cited "the intense diplomatic and security schedule", did not announce a new date for the visit. Netanyahu had been expected to meet with President Ilham Aliyev.
Israeli media reported on Friday that the security cabinet had approved plans for an expanded operation in the Gaza Strip.
Israel broke a fragile ceasefire with Hamas in March after seeking to extend it without engaging in talks to permanently end the war. Hamas says it would release the remaining hostages in Gaza only in exchange for an end to the war.
The military has since intensified its bombing campaign and carved out wide buffer zones in Gaza, squeezing the 2.3 million population into an ever narrower zone in the center of the enclave and along the coast and shutting off aid supplies.
Israel's leadership has asserted that it is committed to its war goals of defeating Hamas and bringing back the last 59 hostages held in Gaza.
So far, 192 hostages have been released through negotiations and Israeli military operations since November 2023. Most had been abducted on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led groups stormed into Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's retaliatory war has reduced much of the territory to rubble and killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, according to health officials in Gaza.