The annual March of Return, which typically draws tens of thousands of Palestinians inside Israel, was transformed this year into a series of smaller marches across depopulated Palestinian villages.

Despite restrictions imposed by Israeli police, hundreds of Palestinians took part in local tours to their destroyed villages to commemorate the Nakba, or catastrophe, which refers to the ethnic cleansing of Palestine by Zionist militias to make way for the creation of Israel in May 1948.

Through these events, Palestinians say they aim to reaffirm their identity amid what they describe as ongoing Israeli attempts to erase it.

Khaled Awad, spokesperson for the Association for the Defence of the Rights of the Internally Displaced, said discussions with Israeli authorities began around three months before the march. 

He noted that police initially refused to engage with the organisers of the event and warned they could break it up if it went ahead.

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