Palestinian artist in Gaza makes sand sculpture for World Refugee Day

A Palestinian artist who lives in the Gaza Strip made this sculpture form sand to mark World Refugee Day on Saturday (June 20th).

Rana Ramlawi, 24, said "one of her goals" in creating the piece was to highlight the plight of the Palestinian people.

"Our identity, which Israel is trying to eradicate, is still there," Ramlawi said.

World Refugee Day is an international day designated by the United Nations to honour refugees around the globe.

According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Palestine refugees are defined as “persons whose normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948, and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict.” Nearly one-third of the registered Palestine refugees, more than 1.5 million individuals, live in 58 recognized Palestine refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, the Syrian Arab Republic, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, according to UNRWA.