Palestinian refugees
During the 1948 Palestine War, around 85% of the population or 700,000[fn 1] Palestinian Arabs, living in the area that became Israel fled or were expelled from their homes, to the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and to the countries of Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.
[6] They, and their descendants who are also entitled to registration, are assisted by UNWRA in 59 registered camps, ten of which were established in the aftermath of the Six-Day War in 1967 to cope with the new wave of displaced Palestinians.
[7] They are also the world's oldest unsettled refugee population, having been under the ongoing governance of Arab states following the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the refugee populations of the West Bank under Israeli governance since the Six-Day War and Palestinian administration since 1994, and the Gaza Strip administered by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) since 2007.
In 2021, Jordanian politician Jawad Anani estimated that roughly 50% of Jordan's population had West Bank–Palestinian roots.
[b][8][9][10][11] Another approximately 2,000,000 refugees live in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, under Israeli occupation and blockade.
On 11 December 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations (UNGA) adopted Resolution 194 which affirmed the Palestinians right to return to their homes.
[18] The Six-Day War of 1967 generated a new wave of Palestinian refugees who could not be included in the original UNRWA definition.
According to UNRWA, "The descendants of Palestine refugee males, including adopted children, are also eligible for registration.
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), especially those who have returned and form part of the PNA, but also Palestinian refugee camp residents in Lebanon, repudiate this term, since it implies being a passive victim, and prefer the autonym of 'returnees' (a'idun).
Among them were many from the higher and middle classes from the cities, who left voluntarily, expecting to return when the Arab states won the war and took control of the country.
[33] When the Haganah and then the emerging Israeli army (Israel Defense Forces or IDF) went on the defensive, between April and July, a further 250,000 to 300,000 Palestinian Arabs left or were expelled, mainly from the towns of Haifa, Tiberias, Beit-Shean, Safed, Jaffa and Acre, which lost more than 90 percent of their Arab inhabitants.
From October to November 1948, the IDF launched Operation Yoav to remove Egyptian forces from the Negev and Operation Hiram to remove the Arab Liberation Army from North Galilee during which at least nine events named massacres of Arabs were carried out by IDF soldiers.
[42] As a result of the Six-Day War, around 280,000 to 325,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled[43] from the territories won in the Six-Day War by Israel, including the demolished Palestinian villages of Imwas, Yalo, Bayt Nuba, Surit, Beit Awwa, Beit Mirsem, Shuyukh, Jiftlik, Agarith and Huseirat, and the "emptying" of the refugee camps of Aqabat Jabr and Ein as-Sultan.
[51] By March 2019, the UHCR estimated that 120,000 Palestine refugees had fled Syria since 2011, primarily to Lebanon and Jordan, but also Turkey and further afield.
[52] There were reports that Jordan and Lebanon had turned away Palestinian refugees attempting to flee the humanitarian crises in Syria.
Former UNRWA chief-attorney James G. Lindsay wrote in 2009: "In Jordan, where 2 million Palestinian refugees live, all but 167,000 have citizenship, and are fully eligible for government services including education and health care."
In December 2015, sources told Al Jazeera that thousands of Palestinians were fleeing to Europe by way of Turkey, with about 4,000 having fled the Ain al-Hilweh camp alone in recent months.
[58] As a result of the Syrian civil war, large numbers of Palestinian refugees fled Syria to Europe as part of the European migrant crisis, and to other Arab countries.
[citation needed] Thousands lived as internally displaced persons within Iraq or were stranded in camps along Iraq's borders with Jordan and Syria, as no country in the region would accept them, and lived in temporary camps along the no man's land in the border zones.
Generally, they were unable to find work in India as they spoke only Arabic though some found employment with UNHCR's non-governmental partners.
[72] In November 2006, 54 were granted asylum in Canada, and in 2007, some 200 were accepted for resettlement in Sweden and Iceland, and Brazil agreed to take 100.
[78] On 11 December 1948 the United Nations General Assembly discussed Bernadotte's report and passed a resolution: "that refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbour should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date.
[83][84] Following the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel gained control over a substantial number of refugee camps in the territories it captured from Egypt and Jordan.
The Israeli government attempted to resettle them permanently by initiating a subsidized "build-your-own home" program.
Israel provided land for refugees who chose to participate; the Palestinians bought building materials on credit and built their own houses, usually with friends.
[89] On 17 October 2023 during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, Jordan's king Abdullah warned against pushing refugees into Egypt or Jordan, adding that the humanitarian situation must to be dealt with inside Gaza and the West Bank: "That is a red line, because I think that is the plan by certain of the usual suspects to try and create de facto issues on the ground.
"[90] Tashbih Sayyed, a fellow of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, criticized Arab nations of violating human rights and making the children and grandchildren of Palestinian refugees second class citizens in Lebanon, Syria, or the Gulf States, and said that the UNRWA Palestine refugees "cling to the illusion that defeating the Jews will restore their dignity".
Although all Arab League members at the time (1948) – Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Yemen – voted against the resolution,[92] they also cite the article 11 of United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194, which "Resolves that the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return [...].
An independent poll by Khalil Shikaki was conducted in 2003 with 4,500 Palestinian refugee families of Gaza, West Bank, Jordan and Lebanon.
However, events have halted the phasing process and made the likelihood of a future sovereign Palestinian state uncertain.
