Thousands of people are expected to gather on the National Mall in Washington to support Palestinian rights.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of protesters are expected to gather in the nation’s capital Saturday in support of Palestinian rights and an immediate end to Israeli military operations in Gaza.

The event commemorates the 76th anniversary of the so-called Nakba, the Arabic word for catastrophe, and refers to the exodus of some 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were forced to leave what is now Israel when the state was created in 1948.

Rally organizers, in an unusual move, did not apply for any permits from the National Park Service, which oversees the National Mall. These authorizations, which include participation estimates, constitute a traditional step for large gatherings or demonstrations.

“Permits are required for any organized activity to ensure the safety of the public and participants, the protection of park resources and to maintain a commemorative atmosphere where appropriate,” said Mike Litterst, the agency’s communications chief. for the National Mall. “However, in the event that no permit application has been submitted, we will work to support the First Amendment rights of all visitors to the areas we protect, with priority given to safety and resource protection of the park.”

In the absence of permit applications, there was no estimate of the size of the protest, and the Park Service no longer provides official crowd estimates for gatherings on the National Mall.

In January, thousands of pro-Palestinian activists took over the National Mall in one of the largest protests in recent memory in the District of Columbia.

This year’s event is fueled by anger over the ongoing siege of Gaza. The latest war between Israel and Hamas began when Hamas and other militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking 250 others hostage. Palestinian militants still hold around 100 prisoners and the Israeli army has killed more than 35,000 people in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

The rally is also fueled by anger over the violent crackdown on several pro-Palestinian protest camps at universities across the country. In recent weeks, long-term encampments have been dismantled by police at more than 60 schools, including George Washington University, not far from the White House.

In addition to pressuring Israel and the Biden administration to immediately end hostilities in Gaza, protesters are expected to push for the right of return of Palestinian refugees – a long-standing Israeli red line over decades incessant negotiations.

After the Arab-Israeli War that followed the creation of Israel, Israel refused to allow them to return because it would have resulted in a Palestinian majority within Israeli borders. Instead, they became a seemingly permanent refugee community that today numbers some 6 million people, most living in slum-like urban refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and the occupied West Bank. by Israel. In Gaza, refugees and their descendants make up around three-quarters of the population.

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Associated Press writer Joseph Krauss in Jerusalem contributed to this report.