Thousands of Palestinians in Israel marched on Friday to commemorate the 65th anniversary of a bloody massacre in which dozens of Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in the Arab Israeli village of Kafr Qasim.

The marchers held banners with names of the victims amid calls for Israel to apologize and take responsibility for the massacre.

The deadly event took place on October, 29, 1956 when Israeli forces shot dead 49 Palestinians in the village, including women and children. On that day, Israeli authorities issued a curfew on several villages in the Triangle area including Kafr Qasim.

At the time, Israel, along with Britain and France, was preparing to launch an attack against Egypt in an effort to regain the western control of the Suez Canal.

Fearing of a possible conflict with Jordan, the Israeli army decided to move up the start time of a curfew in the village without warning local residents in advance.

Around 400 local residents were outside for their work, unaware that the village was put under the curfew hours earlier. Some 49 Palestinians were killed in cold blood that night by the Israeli forces.

Israeli authorities launched an investigation into the killings and the border policemen who were involved in the shooting were brought to trial and sentenced to prison terms ranging between 8-17 years.

However, all were released two years after the massacre, while the brigade commander was ordered to pay a fine of one piaster.