Ramallah - Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip were set Thursday to take to the streets with rallies and marches and a two-minute siren at noon to mark 60 years since creation of Israel and the subsequent dispersion of hundreds of thousands of refugees.

The central event of the Naqba (Catastrophe) commemorations was scheduled to take place in Ramallah, where a speech by President Mahmoud Abbas was to be broadcast over loudspeakers in the city's central square.

Approximately 22,00 black balloons - one for each day which has passed since Israel was created - will be released in Ramallah, with the aim of darkening the skies over nearby Jerusalem as a symbol of Palestinian mourning while Israel celebrates its 60th anniversary.

Marches and rallies are also slated for other West Bank cities, and in the Gaza Strip Hamas is calling on residents to march en masse to the closed Israeli border crossing.

Jewish leaders in Palestine proclaimed the State of Israel on May 14, 1948, one day before the formal end of the British mandate. Six Arab armies invaded the nascent state on May 15, sparking the first Arab-Israeli war.

The war ended in 1949, with Israel controlling 50 per cent more territory than had been allocated to it by the United Nations, and Palestinians living under Jordanian control in the West Bank and Egyptian control in the Gaza Strip.

In addition, at least 726,000 Palestinians become refugees, having fled from their homes or having been evicted by the Jewish forces.

Israel celebrated its anniversary last week, according to the Hebrew calendar, and Arab-Israelis held their own Naqba commemorations, clashing with police in several locations. (dpa)