Maqdah Says Nakba Day March Peaceful, as UNIFIL Stresses Army Responsible for Security

Thousands of Palestinians are expected to march to southern Lebanon on Sunday in what Fatah commander Munir Maqdah said would be a “peaceful” rally marking the Palestinian "Nakba Day."

The protestors will mark the 63rd anniversary of the Nakba, or catastrophe, when Palestinians were expelled from their land in 1948 following Israel's establishment.

As Safir daily said Saturday that 50,000 people from across Lebanon would participate in the event.

According to Maqdah, women and children will also take part in the rally that will kick off from all Palestinian camps and head to the border town of Maroun al-Ras.

He told Voice of Lebanon radio station that the march is aimed at sending a message about the right of Palestinians to return to their homeland as Israelis celebrate the 63rd anniversary of “the occupation of Palestine.”

Maqdah hoped that the rally would be “the beginning of the end of the Israeli entity.”

Meanwhile, United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon spokesman Neeraj Singh stressed that the Lebanese Armed Forces were responsible for the security and law and order in the area of the march.

The National News Agency quoted him as saying that UNIFIL would remain in contact with the Lebanese army during the rally but it would carry out its routine work and focus on implementing its mission defined by U.N. Security Council resolution 1701.