59 years after 1967 war, Israel continues campaigns in Gaza, West Bank, Lebanon

Palestinians commemorated the 59th anniversary of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war—known in Arabic as the “Naksa” (setback)—on Friday, as Israel continues military offensives in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, and Lebanon. The June 1967 war ended with Israel occupying the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, and Syria’s Golan Heights. Although Israel withdrew from Sinai under the 1979 peace treaty, it continues to occupy the West Bank and Golan Heights, while East Jerusalem was annexed in a move not recognized internationally. The war displaced an estimated 300,000 Palestinians and marked the beginning of large-scale illegal Israeli settlement projects.

Casualties and displacement

Since October 2023, Israel’s war on Gaza has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and caused widespread destruction. In the occupied West Bank, 1,168 Palestinians have been killed, 12,666 injured, around 23,000 arrested, and 33,000 displaced. Israel has also carried out a large-scale military campaign in Lebanon since March 2, killing 3,516 people and injuring 10,674. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, by the end of 2025 there were 645 Israeli settlement sites and military bases in the West Bank, including 151 settlements and 350 outposts, with a settler population of 778,567.

PLO official’s remarks

Wasel Abu Yousef, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Executive Committee, told Anadolu that this year’s anniversary comes amid a comprehensive Israeli offensive against Palestinians. “The June 1967 war represented another stage in the displacement of Palestinians and the confiscation of their land after the 1948 Nakba,” he said. He argued that Israeli policies since 1967 have focused on settlement expansion and land confiscation, while failing to break Palestinian determination.