Tens of thousands of Palestinians demonstrated in the Gaza Strip and West Bank on Sunday to mark the 57th anniversary of the al-Nakba (Catastrophe) Day, calling for statehood and refugees' right of return.

The annual commemoration is dedicated to the sufferings of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced during the first Arab-Israeli war which broke out on May 15, 1948, one day after the birth of Israel.

The march was emotionally charged as huge numbers of Palestinians took to the streets, waving Palestinian flags and chanting slogans "no to resettling refugees, yes to right of return".

In a pre-recorded speech aired Sunday noon, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas called for a fair solution to the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"The Palestinian people will never forget their sufferings inflicted by Israel's destruction of their homes and denial of their right of return," Abbas said.

Calling for an end to Israel's occupation, Abbas vowed to establish an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

"The issue of refugees must be fairly resolved according to UN Resolution 194," he said.

The United Nations has passed several resolutions calling on Israel to allow Palestinian refugees to return. Latest Palestinian official statistics show some 3 million Palestinian refugees are living in Jordan and nearly 1 million in Lebanon and Syria.

The return of the 1948 refugees and their descendants to their homes in what is now Israel, namely the right of return, is a key Palestinian demand in peace talks with Israel.

Israel categorically rejects it, fearing an influx of Palestinians might change its Jewish majority.

"The international community should understand the dangers of keeping millions of refugees without hope and future," Abbas warned, adding "Palestinians reject the proposal of resettling the refugees in Arab countries and their presence there is temporary."

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei echoed Abbas' call, urging Israel to implement UN Resolution 194.

"We will never give up the legitimate right of having a fair solution to the issue of refugees based on the international resolutions," Qurei said at a special session of the Palestinian parliament to mark the al-Nakba Day.

"We will never abdicate our legitimate right to end the Israeli occupation, stop settlement expansion and the construction of the separation wall," Qurei added.

Palestinian national and Islamic factions joined the chorus of supporting the right of return. "The Palestinian people will never give up getting their lands back and seeking for their right of return," said a leaflet on behalf of all factions.

On the other hand, the radical Islamic group Hamas lashed out at Israel, saying the Jewish state "has never stopped its cruel practices and aggressions against the Palestinian people."

Hamas also accused the United States of pursuing biased policies in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

The left-wing Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) labelled Washington and Israel as obstacles to a settlement to the Mideast conflict.

Meanwhile, Israel partially lifted a week-long closure imposed on the Gaza Strip and West Bank Sunday, allowing the entry of Palestinians working in Israel.

Israel sealed off the Palestinian territories last week, citing security concerns during the period of the state's commemoration of the Independence Day and the soldiers fallen in wars.

Source: Xinhua