Palestinians celebrate 76th ‘Nakba’ as raging war between Israel and Hamas leaves them suffering yet another catastrophe

Ramallah, West Bank — For Palestinians, Wednesday marks the “Nakba.” The word means catastrophe and the date marks the mass displacement in 1948 of more than 700,000 Palestinians during the formation of the modern state of Israel.

It’s been 76 years since it happened, but this year Palestinians are also commemorating what some are calling a second Nakba – the current war in the Gaza Stripwhich was perhaps the most horrible and bloodiest chapter in the history of the Palestinian people.

Since Hamas leaders in Gaza started the war with their October 7 terrorist attacks against Israel, more than 35,000 people Palestinians were killed by Israel’s retaliatory offensive on the territory, according to its Health Ministry. The United Nations estimates that at least 1.7 million people, more than half of Gaza’s population, have been displaced since the start of the war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted since October 7 that the only way to respond to Hamas’s massacre of some 1,200 people was to destroy the group, and he has pledged to carry out a ground offensive in Rafah , the last town in Gaza so far. spared a general assault.

Israel says there are still four Hamas battalions there, but hundreds of thousands of civilians have also sought refuge in the southern city during seven months of war, and the U.S. and other allies Israelis have warned of a large-scale ground invasion.

Much of the rest of Gaza has already been left in ruins by Israel’s overwhelming firepower – much of it provided by the United States, and with much more is said to be on the way Soon.

For the Palestinian people, this is already a crisis on a scale far greater than the violence and displacement of 76 years ago, and with the looming prospect of an incursion into Rafah, thousands of people had to they fled once again, fearing for their lives.

On Tuesday, Israelis celebrated their Independence Day. Usually a time of celebration, this year’s commemorations have been largely somber, as Israelis continue to call on their leaders to reach a deal to free the more than 100 hostages believed to be still alive and held by Hamas or other groups in Gaza.

CBS News’ Tucker Reals contributed to this report.