On Thursday, Palestinians marked the 47th anniversary of Land Day with a number of activities and events, commemorating the confiscation of large swathes of their land by the Israeli authorities.
Palestinians in the interior are expected to hold a central march in the city of Sakhnin in the Lower Galilee to "renew the covenant of the land," organizers of the event said.
The Higher Follow-up Committee for the Arab Masses in Israel, the highest unitary representative body of Arabs, also called for "commemorating the 47th anniversary of Land Day with a central, unitary march in which tens of thousands participate in Sakhnin."
"This march is the renewal of the covenant for the land and the homeland, in order to defend our children, our lives, our homes and our homeland, which we have no other homeland," committee chairman Mohamed Baraka said on its website.
Baraka warned that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, the most right-wing government in the history of the Jewish state, has "schemes that pose an existential danger and threat to us through its legislation and policies."
"They went so far as to say that there are no Palestinian people. They even deployed fully armed gangs in our villages, in our historic cities."
The anniversary is usually commemorated by thousands of Palestinians who participate in popular demonstrations carrying Palestinian flags.
Gaza children commemorate Land Day (Anatolia)
Axis of conflict
These marches tour towns where Land Day clashes commemorate the struggle of the people of Deir Hanna, Arraba and Sakhnin in the Lower Galilee against an order to confiscate thousands of dunums of their land in the Batuf Plain, one of the most fertile agricultural lands.
On March 30, 1976, following the issuance of the confiscation order, a popular uprising in which six Palestinians were killed led to Israel's reversal of land confiscation.
For their part, the National and Islamic Action factions in the Gaza Strip are organizing a mass rally on Thursday afternoon to commemorate Land Day in the "Malka camp" near the border fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel.
Dozens of children in Gaza took part in a scout march on Wednesday to commemorate Land Day, where children dressed as scouts waved Palestinian flags, along with banners affirming their right of return to the lands from which their ancestors were displaced in 1948, and the names of Israeli-occupied towns.
Deputy Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council Ahmad Bahar said that the land would remain at the center of the conflict with the Israeli occupation and that it could not be ceded in any way.
During a meeting of Hamas deputies on the anniversary of Land Day, Bahr called on the Arab and Islamic nation and international organizations to shoulder their responsibilities to stop the Israeli aggression and hold the leaders of the occupation accountable for their crimes.