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Land Day in Gaza: Between memory and the fight for what remains
Inside a tent pitched on a small patch of land, Sawsan al-Jadba sits with her children on the final strip of her property, just metres away from the rest of her seized land.
Before Israel’s 2023 genocidal war against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the 54-year-old owned three plots of about 2,000 square metres (21,530 square feet) each: One inherited from her father in the eastern Tuffah neighbourhood; another in Abu Safiya, northeast of Gaza City; and a third along Salah al-Din Street in central Gaza.
“They were a paradise,” she recalls. “I planted olive trees and citrus fruits … they were the source of livelihood for me and my children.”
Like thousands across Gaza, al-Jadba has seen that reality change completely. Her home was destroyed, and most of her land has become inaccessible as it falls within the so-called “yellow line”, an Israeli military demarcation line that slices through more than half of Gaza’s territory.
Today, only about 600 square metres (6,460 square feet) remain of al-Jadba’s land in Tuffah. She describes the loss as “a deep wound in her chest”, a nightmare she never imagined living through. Still, she is determined to stay put with her daughters and grandchildren, cultivating her remaining plot again despite limited resources.
“Land is like honour,” she says. “Even if only a single metre of my land remains, I will do the impossible to stay on it.”
Al-Jadba, 54, cultivates what remains of her land in the Tuffah neighbourhood, east of Gaza City, which she has been unable to access beyond Israel’s ‘yellow line’ during the war
Land Day: What happened in Palestine on March 30, 1976?
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/30/land-day-what-happened-in-palestine-on-march-30-1976
Every year on March 30, Palestinians observe Land Day, or Yom al-Ard, recalling the events of 50 years ago when on March 30, 1976, six unarmed Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces, and more than 100 were injured during protests against Israel’s confiscation of Palestinian land.
Israel ordered the confiscation of 2,000 hectares (4,942 acres) of land belonging to Palestinian citizens of Israel in the Galilee. These plans were part of Israeli state policy to Judaise Galilee following the creation of the State of Israel.
While the land confiscations affected the entire Galilee, the heart of the 1976 protests was in the Palestinian towns of Sakhnin, Arrabeh and Deir Hanna.
The confiscated land is roughly the size of 3,000 football pitches or the area from the southern tip of Manhattan to the start of Central Park in New York, United States.
Fifty years on, Land Day has become a foundational moment in Palestinian national consciousness, renewing the bond between the people and the lands they lost decades ago – not merely as property, but as identity, existence and an inalienable right.
“It was a day when we renewed our connection to lands occupied in 1967 and 1948, demanding our right to return,” al-Jadba says with frustration. “But today, the meaning has completely changed … now we are demanding the lands they took from us during this war, drawing new borders for us.”
Israel’s latest war took from al-Jadba not only her land but also two of her sons, while her husband was killed during another war, in 2008–2009. Despite the loss of loved ones, the hardships of displacement, and the scarce resources, al-Jadba has never considered leaving.
“Life is very difficult, yes. But what has happened in Gaza – genocide, starvation, looting – will not stop me from holding on to my land,” she says. “I will stay on my land until the very last moment … and if I die, I will be buried in it.
