View source for Palestinian refugees

{{Short description|Displaced persons and refugees}}
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'''Palestinian refugees''' are citizens of [[Mandatory Palestine]], and their descendants, who [[1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight|fled or were expelled]] from their country, village or house over the course of the [[1948 Palestine war]] [[1967 Palestinian exodus|and during]] the 1967 [[Six-Day War]]. Most Palestinian refugees live in or near 68 [[Palestinian refugee camps]] across [[Jordan]], [[Lebanon]], [[Syria]], the [[West Bank]] and the [[Gaza Strip]], and make up a large proportion of the [[Palestinians|Palestinian people]]. In 2019 more than 5.6 million Palestinian refugees were registered with the United Nations.{{cn|date=October 2025}}

In 1949, the [[United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East]] (UNRWA) defined Palestinian refugees to refer to the original "'''Palestine refugees'''" as well as their [[patrilineal]] descendants. However, UNRWA's assistance is limited to Palestine refugees residing in UNRWA's areas of operation in the Palestinian Territories, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.<ref name="UNCCPdefinition">{{cite book |title=International law and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict |publisher=Taylor & Francis |author=Susan Akram |year=2011 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oeJ50a76z5cC&pg=PA19 |pages=19–20, 38 |isbn=978-0415573221 |quote="The term 'refugees' applies to all persons, Arabs, Jews and others who have been displaced from their homes in Palestine. This would include Arabs in Israel who have been shifted from their normal places of residence. It would also include Jews who had their homes in Arab Palestine, such as the inhabitants of the Jewish quarter of the Old City. It would not include Arabs who lost their lands but not their houses, such as the inhabitants of Tulkarm"}}</ref><ref name="UNRWAdef">{{cite web|title=Consolidated Eligibility and Registration Instructions|url=http://www.unrwa.org/userfiles/2010011995652.pdf|publisher=UNRWA|quote=Persons who meet UNRWA's Palestine Refugee criteria These are 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. Palestine Refugees, and descendants of Palestine refugee males, including legally adopted children, are eligible to register for UNRWA services. The Agency accepts new applications from persons who wish to be registered as Palestine Refugees. Once they are registered with UNRWA, persons in this category are referred to as Registered Refugees or as Registered Palestine Refugees.}}</ref>

As of 2019, more than 5.6 million Palestinians were registered with UNRWA as refugees,<ref>{{harvnb|''UNRWA: FAQ''|ps=: As of 2019, over 5.6 million Palestine refugees were registered as such with the Agency}}</ref> of which more than 1.5 million live in UNRWA-run camps.<ref>{{harvnb|''UNRWA''|ps=: more than 1.5 million individuals, live in 58 recognized Palestine refugee camps in ...}}</ref> The term "Palestine refugee" does not include [[internally displaced Palestinians]], who became Israeli citizens, or displaced [[Palestinian Jews]]. According to some estimates, as many as 1,050,000–1,380,000{{sfn|BADIL|2015|p=52}} people, who descend from displaced people of Mandatory Palestine are not registered under UNRWA or UNHCR mandates.

During the [[1948 Palestine War]], around 85% of the population or 700,000<ref group=fn name="number"/> Palestinian Arabs, living in the area that became Israel [[1948 Palestinian exodus|fled or were expelled from their homes]], to the [[Jordanian annexation of the West Bank|West Bank]], the [[All-Palestine Protectorate|Gaza Strip]], and to the countries of [[Lebanon]], [[Second Syrian Republic|Syria]] and [[Jordan]].{{sfn|Morris|2001|pp=252–258}} 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.<ref>{{harvnb|''UNRWA''|ps=: In the aftermath of the hostilities of June 1967 and the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, ten camps were established to accommodate a new wave of displaced persons, both refugees and non-refugees.}}</ref> 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.

Today, the largest number of refugees, over 2,000,000, live in Jordan, where by 2009 over 90% of [[UNWRA]]-registered Palestinian refugees had acquired full citizenship rights. This figure consists almost exclusively of West Bank–descended Palestinians;{{efn|The West Bank was [[Jordanian annexation of the West Bank|formerly administered by Jordan]], who gave citizenship to its residents.}} however, as of December 2021, Palestinians with roots in the Gaza Strip are also still kept in legal limbo. In 2021, Jordanian politician [[Jawad Anani]] estimated that roughly 50% of [[Demographics of Jordan|Jordan's population]] had West Bank–Palestinian roots.{{efn|Anani called this a "crude estimate", as the Jordanian government has not made direct statistics on this matter.}}<ref>{{cite web |last1=Davis |first1=Hanna |title=Jordan: Palestinian refugees struggle amid UNRWA funding cuts |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/12/18/jordan-palestinian-refugees-struggle-amid-unrwa-funding-cuts |publisher=[[Al-Jazeera English]] |date=18 December 2021}}</ref><ref name=Lindsay2009/><ref name=Brynen2006>{{cite book |first= Rex |last= Brynen |title= Perspectives on Palestinian repatriation |series= Palestinian Refugee Repatriation: Global Perspectives |publisher= Taylor & Francis |year= 2006 |pages= 63–86 [66, 80] |isbn= 978-0415384971 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=pNeiihVJYHYC&pg=PA62 |access-date=4 April 2020}}</ref><ref>Menachem Klein, 'The Palestinian refugees of 1948: models of allowed and denied return,' in Dumper, 2006 pp. 87–106, [93].</ref> Another approximately 2,000,000 refugees live in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, under Israeli occupation and blockade. Approximately 500,000 refugees live in each of Syria and Lebanon respectively, albeit under very different circumstances. While Palestinian refugees in Syria maintained their stateless status, the Syrian government during Assad's rule afforded them the same economic and social rights enjoyed by Syrian citizens;<ref>{{cite web | title=Treatment and Rights in Arab Host States (Right to Return | website=Human Rights Watch Policy| url=https://www.hrw.org/legacy/campaigns/israel/return/arab-rtr.htm | access-date=23 December 2022|quote= Unlike Jordan, Syria has maintained the stateless status of its Palestinians but has afforded them the same economic and social rights enjoyed by Syrian citizens. According to a 1956 law, Palestinians are treated as if they are Syrians "in all matters pertaining to...the rights of employment, work, commerce, and national obligations". As a consequence, Palestinians in Syria do not suffer from massive unemployment or underemployment}}</ref> they were also [[Conscription|drafted]] into the [[Syrian Armed Forces|Armed Forces]] despite not being citizens.<ref name="CivilRights">{{cite web|title=Profiles: Palestinian Refugees in SYRIA|url=http://www.badil.org/en/al-majdal/item/518-profiles-palestinian-refugees-in-syria|publisher=[[BADIL]] Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights|access-date=26 July 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140811223355/http://badil.org/en/al-majdal/item/518-profiles-palestinian-refugees-in-syria|archive-date=11 August 2014}}</ref><ref name="Bolongaro 2016">{{cite web | last=Bolongaro | first=Kait | title=Palestinian Syrians: Twice refugees - Human Rights | website=Al Jazeera | date=23 March 2016 | url=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2016/3/23/palestinian-syrians-twice-refugees | access-date=18 June 2021}}</ref> Citizenship or legal residency in some host countries is denied, most notably for the [[Palestinians in Lebanon|Palestinian refugees in Lebanon]], where the absorption of Palestinians would upset a delicate [[confessionalism (politics)|confessional]] balance. For the refugees themselves, these situations mean they have reduced rights: no right to vote, limited property rights and access to social services, among other things.

On 11 December 1948, the [[General Assembly of the United Nations]] (UNGA) adopted [[United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194#Article 11—Refugees|Resolution 194]] which affirmed the [[Palestinian right of return|Palestinians right to return]] to their homes.{{sfn|''A/RES/194 (III)''}}{{sfn|Dumper|2006|p=2|ps=: the right of return of the Palestinian refugees to their homes was accepted and supported by the United Nations Resolution 194.}}

==Definitions==
{{see also|Definitions of Palestinian}}

===UNRWA===
[[File:Palestinian refugees in 1956.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Palestinian refugees in [[Aida (camp)|Aida Refugee Camp]], [[Bethlehem]], 1956]]

The [[United Nations Relief and Works Agency]] (UNRWA) is an organ of the [[United Nations]] created exclusively for the purpose of aiding those displaced by the [[Arab–Israeli conflict]], with an annual budget of approximately $600 million.<ref>{{harvnb|Goldberg|2012|ps=: Today, UNRWA's annual budget stands at approximately $600 million, ...}}</ref> It defines a "Palestine refugee" as a person "whose normal place of residence was [[Mandatory Palestine]] between June 1946 and May 1948, who lost both their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab–Israeli conflict".{{sfn|''UNRWA''}} The [[Six-Day War]] of 1967 generated a new wave of Palestinian refugees who could not be included in the original UNRWA definition. From 1991, the UN General Assembly has adopted an annual resolution allowing the 1967 refugees within the UNRWA mandate.<ref>Based on [https://mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPolicy/MFADocuments/Yearbook8/Pages/252%20%20General%20Assembly%20Resolution%2046-46-%20UNRWA-%209%20D.aspx UNGA Resolution 46/46 C of 9 December 1991].</ref> UNRWA aids all "those living in its area of operations who meet its working definition, who are registered with the Agency and who need assistance"<ref>{{harvnb|''UNRWA''|ps=: UNRWA services are available to all those living in its area of operations who meet this definition, who are registered with the Agency and who need assistance.}}</ref> and those who first became refugees as a result of the Six-Day War, regardless whether they reside in areas designated as [[Palestine refugee camps]] or in other permanent communities.

A Palestine refugee camp is "a plot of land placed at the disposal of UNRWA by the host government to accommodate Palestine refugees and to set up facilities to cater to their needs".<ref>{{harvnb|''UNRWA''|ps=: A Palestine refugee camp is defined as a plot of land placed at the disposal of UNRWA by the host government to accommodate Palestine refugees and set up facilities to cater to their needs.}}</ref> About 1.4 million of registered Palestine refugees, approximately one-third, live in the 58 UNRWA-recognised refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.<ref name="unwra12" /> The UNRWA definition does not cover final status.<ref name="unwra12">{{cite web|title=Who are Palestine refugees?|url=http://www.unrwa.org/etemplate.php?id=86|work=Palestine refugees|publisher=United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees|access-date=31 May 2012}}</ref><ref name="f">{{cite web|url=http://www.unrwa.org/etemplate.php?id=87|title=UNRWA's Frequently Asked Questions under "Who is a Palestine refugee?"|publisher=United Nations|access-date=1 May 2012}}</ref>

Registered descendants of UNRWA Palestine refugees, like "[[Nansen passport]]" and "Certificate of Eligibility" holders (the documents issued to those displaced by World War II) or like UNHCR refugees,<ref>http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/pdfid/3ae6b3314.pdf "Thus, a holder of a so-called 'Nansen Passport' or a 'Certificate of Eligibility' issued by the International Refugee Organization must be considered a refugee under the 1951 Convention unless one of the cessation clauses has become applicable to his case or he is excluded from the application of the Convention by one of the exclusion clauses. This also applies to a surviving child of a statutory refugee."</ref> inherit the same Palestine refugee status as their male parent. According to UNRWA, "The descendants of Palestine refugee males, including adopted children, are also eligible for registration."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unrwa.org/palestine-refugees|title=Palestine refugees|website=UNRWA}}</ref>

The [[UNHCR]] had counted 90,000 refugees by 2014.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unhcr.org/statisticalyearbook/2014-annex-tables.zip|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151216135252/https://www.unhcr.org/statisticalyearbook/2014-annex-tables.zip|url-status=dead|title=2014 Annex Tables|archive-date=16 December 2015|website=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees}}</ref>

===Palestinian definitions===
Palestinians make several distinctions relating to Palestinian refugees. The 1948 refugees and their descendants are broadly defined as "refugees" (''laji'un''). The [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] (PLO), especially those who have returned and form part of the [[Palestinian National Authority|PNA]], but also Palestinian refugee camp residents in Lebanon, repudiate this term, since it implies being a passive victim, and prefer the [[Exonym and endonym|autonym]] of 'returnees' (''a'idun'').<ref>Helena Lindholm Schulz, with Juliane Hammer, ''The Palestinian Diaspora: Formation of Identities and Politics of Homeland'', Psychology Press reprint 2003 p. 130.</ref> Those who left since 1967, and their descendants, are called ''nazihun'' or "displaced persons", though many may also descend from the 1948 group.{{sfn|Chiller-Glaus|2007|p=82|ps=: Those exiled during or since 1967 are with their offspring known as "displaced persons" (nazihun) – although a high proportion of them are 1948 refugees}}

==Origin of the Palestine refugees==
{{see also|History of Palestinian nationality}}

{{Nakba}}

Most Palestinian refugees have retained their refugee status and continue to reside in refugee camps, including within the [[State of Palestine]] in the West Bank and in the [[Gaza Strip]]. Their descendants form a sizable portion of the [[Palestinian diaspora]].

===Palestinian refugees from the 1948 Palestine War===
{{Main|1948 Palestinian exodus|Causes of the 1948 Palestinian exodus|Palestinian Exodus 1949 to 1956}}
During the [[1948 Palestine War]], some 700,000{{sfn|Morris|2001|pp=252–258}}<ref group=fn name="number">The exact number of refugees is disputed. See [[List of estimates of the Palestinian Refugee flight of 1948]] for details.</ref> Palestinian Arabs or 85% of the Palestinian Arab population of territories that became Israel [[1948 Palestinian exodus|fled or were expelled from their homes]].{{sfn|Morris|2001|pp=252–258}} Some 30,000<ref>{{harvnb|Goldberg|2012|ps=: According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency – the main body tasked with providing assistance to Palestinian refugees – there are more than 5 million refugees at present. However, the number of Palestinians alive who were personally displaced during Israel’s War of Independence is estimated to be around 30,000. }}</ref> to 50,000{{citation needed|date=November 2020}} were alive by 2012.

The causes and responsibilities of the exodus are a matter of controversy among historians and commentators of the conflict.<ref>[[Avi Shlaim|Shlaim, Avi]], [http://ccas.georgetown.edu/research-articles.cfm?id=96 "The War of the Israeli Historians."] ''[[Center for Arab Studies]]'', 1 December 2003 (retrieved 17 February 2009) {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060903084029/http://ccas.georgetown.edu/research-articles.cfm?id=96|date=3 September 2006}}</ref> While historians agree on most of the events of the period, there remains disagreement as to whether the exodus was the result of a plan designed before or during the war or was an unintended consequence of the war.<ref>[[Benny Morris]], 1989, ''The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947–1949'', Cambridge University Press; [[Benny Morris]], 1991, ''1948 and after; Israel and the Palestinians'', Clarendon Press, Oxford; [[Walid Khalidi]], 1992, ''All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948'', Institute for Palestine Studies; [[Nur Masalha]], 1992, ''Expulsion of the Palestinians: The Concept of "Transfer" in Zionist Political Thought'', Institute for Palestine Studies; [[Efraim Karsh]], 1997, ''Fabricating Israeli History: The "New Historians"'', Cass; [[Benny Morris]], 2004, ''The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited'', Cambridge University Press; [[Yoav Gelber]], 2006, ''Palestine 1948: War, Escape and the Palestinian Refugee Problem'', Oxford University Press; [[Ilan Pappé]], 2006, ''The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine'', OneWorld</ref> According to historian [[Benny Morris]], the expulsion was planned and encouraged by the Zionist leadership.<ref name="MorrisMorris2004">{{cite book|author1=Research Fellow Truman Institute Benny Morris|author2=Benny Morris|author3=Morris Benny|title=The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA597|year=2004|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-00967-6|pages=597–|quote=But no expulsion policy was ever enunciated and Ben-Gurion always refrained from issuing clear or written expulsion orders; he preferred that his generals 'understand' what he wanted. He probably wished to avoid going down in history as the 'great expeller' and he did not want his government to be blamed for a morally questionable policy.}}</ref>

According to Morris, between December 1947 and March 1948, around 100,000 Palestine Arabs fled. 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.<ref>[[#morris birth revisited|Benny Morris (2003)]], pp. 138–139.</ref> When the [[Haganah]] and then the emerging [[Israel Defense Forces|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 [[Operation Bi'ur Hametz|Haifa]], [[Tiberias]], [[Beit-Shean]], [[Safed]], [[Jaffa]] and [[Acre, Israel|Acre]], which lost more than 90 percent of their Arab inhabitants.<ref>[[#morris birth revisited|Benny Morris (2003)]], p. 262</ref> Expulsions took place in many towns and villages, particularly along the [[Tel Aviv]]–[[Jerusalem]] road<ref>[[#morris birth revisited|Benny Morris (2003)]], pp. 233–240.</ref> and in Eastern [[Galilee]].<ref>[[#morris birth revisited|Benny Morris (2003)]], pp. 248–252.</ref> About 50,000–70,000 inhabitants of [[1948 Palestinian expulsion from Lydda and Ramle|Lydda and Ramle]] were expelled towards [[Ramallah]] by the IDF during [[Operation Danny]],<ref>[[#morris birth revisited|Benny Morris (2003)]], pp. 423–436.</ref> and most others during operations of the IDF in its rear areas.<ref>[[#morris birth revisited|Benny Morris (2003)]], p. 438.</ref> During [[Operation Dekel]], the Arabs of [[Nazareth]] and South Galilee were allowed to remain in their homes.<ref>[[#morris birth revisited|Benny Morris (2003)]], pp. 415–423.</ref> Today they form the core of the [[Arab Israeli]] population. 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.<ref>[[Benny Morris]], ''Righteous Victims'', p. 245.</ref> These events generated an exodus of 200,000 to 220,000 Palestinian Arabs. Here, Arabs fled fearing atrocities or were expelled if they had not fled.<ref>[[#morris birth revisited|Benny Morris (2003)]], p. 492.</ref> After the war, from 1948 to 1950, the IDF resettled around 30,000 to 40,000 Arabs from the borderlands of the new Israeli state.<ref>[[#morris birth revisited|Benny Morris (2003)]], p. 538</ref>

===Palestinian refugees from Six-Day War===
{{Main|1967 Palestinian exodus}}
As a result of the [[Six-Day War]], around 280,000 to 325,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled{{sfn|Bowker|2003|p=81}} from the territories conquered in the [[Six-Day War]] by Israel, including the demolished Palestinian villages of [[Imwas]], [[Yalo]], [[Bayt Nuba]], [[Surit]], [[Beit Awwa]], [[Beit Mirsem]], [[Shuyukh (village)|Shuyukh]], [[Jiftlik]], [[Agarith]] and [[Huseirat]], and the "emptying" of the refugee camps of [[Aqabat Jabr]] and [[Ein as-Sultan camp|Ein as-Sultan]].<ref>Gerson, 1978, p. 162.</ref><ref>[https://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0080ef30efce525585256c38006eacae/858c88eb973847f4802564b5003d1083?OpenDocument UN Doc] A/8389 of 5 October 1971. Para 57. ''appearing in the Sunday Times (London) on 11 October 1970, where reference is made not only to the villages of Jalou, Beit Nuba, and Imwas, also referred to by the Special Committee in its first report, but in addition to villages like Surit, Beit Awwa, Beit Mirsem and El-Shuyoukh in the Hebron area and Jiflik, Agarith and Huseirat, in the Jordan Valley. The Special Committee has ascertained that all these villages have been completely destroyed'' Para 58. ''the village of Nebi Samwil was in fact destroyed by Israeli armed forces on 22 March 1971.'' {{cite web|url=https://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0080ef30efce525585256c38006eacae/858c88eb973847f4802564b5003d1083?OpenDocument |title=A/8389 of 5 October 1971 |access-date=14 August 2009 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309145924/http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0080ef30efce525585256c38006eacae/858c88eb973847f4802564b5003d1083?OpenDocument |archive-date=9 March 2012 }}</ref>

===Palestinian exodus from Kuwait (Gulf War)===
{{main|Palestinian exodus from Kuwait (Gulf War)}}
The [[Palestinian exodus from Kuwait (Gulf War)|Palestinian exodus from Kuwait]] took place during and after the [[Gulf War]]. During the Gulf War, more than 200,000 Palestinians voluntarily fled Kuwait during the [[Invasion of Kuwait|Iraqi occupation of Kuwait]] due to harassment and intimidation by [[Iraq]]i security forces,<ref name="ir"/> in addition to getting fired from work by Iraqi authority figures in Kuwait.<ref name=ir>{{cite web|author=Shafeeq Ghabra|title=The PLO in Kuwait|url=http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/1457|date=8 May 1991|access-date=28 October 2013|archive-date=7 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307074924/https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/1457|url-status=dead}}</ref> After the Gulf War, [[Kuwait]]i authorities forcibly pressured nearly 200,000 Palestinians to leave Kuwait in 1991.<ref name="ir"/> Kuwait's policy, which led to this exodus, was a response to alignment of Palestinian leader [[Yasser Arafat]] and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) with the dictator [[Saddam Hussein]], who had earlier invaded Kuwait.

Prior to the Gulf War, Palestinians numbered 400,000 out of [[Demographics of Kuwait|Kuwait's population]] of 2.2 million.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://countrystudies.us/persian-gulf-states/19.htm |title=Kuwait – Population |publisher=Countrystudies.us |access-date=10 February 2016}}</ref> The Palestinians who fled Kuwait were [[Jordanian people|Jordanian citizens]].<ref name=jor>{{cite journal|author=Yann Le Troquer and Rozenn Hommery al-Oudat|title=From Kuwait to Jordan: The Palestinians' Third Exodus|journal=Journal of Palestine Studies|volume=28|issue=3|date=Spring 1999|pages=37–51|jstor=2538306|doi=10.2307/2538306| issn=0377-919X }}</ref> In 2013, there were 280,000 Jordanian citizens of Palestinian origin in Kuwait.<ref name=mon>{{cite web|title=Jordanians of Kuwait|url=http://www.joshuaproject.net/countries.php?rog3=KU|work=[[Joshua Project]]|year=2013}}</ref> In 2012, 80,000 Palestinians (without Jordanian [[citizenship]]) lived in Kuwait.<ref name="monitor">{{cite news |last=Hatuqa |first=Dalia |date=15 April 2013 |title=Palestinians Reopen EmbassyIn Kuwait After Two Decades |url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/04/palestinians-open-kuwait-embassy.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220522041717/https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2013/04/palestinians-open-kuwait-embassy.html |archive-date=22 May 2022 |access-date=28 October 2013 |work=[[Al-Monitor]]}}</ref> In total, there are 360,000 Palestinians in Kuwait as of 2012–2013.

===Palestinian refugees as part of the Syrian refugee crisis===
{{main|Refugees of the Syrian Civil War}}
Many Palestinians in Syria were displaced as a result of the [[Syrian Civil War]] starting in 2011. By October 2013, 235,000 Palestinians had been displaced within Syria itself and 60,000 (alongside 2.2 million Syrians) had fled the country.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unrwa.org/activity/rss-syria |title=RSS in Syria |publisher=[[United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East|UNRWA]] |year=2013 |access-date=8 November 2013}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Question of Palestine 2019">{{cite web | title=Palestine Refugees in Syria: A Tale of Devastation and Courage – UNRWA Commissioner-General Op Ed – Question of Palestine |website=Question of Palestine | date=3 June 2019 | url=https://www.un.org/unispal/document/palestine-refugees-in-syria-a-tale-of-devastation-and-courage-unrwa-commissioner-general-op-ed/ | access-date=19 August 2020}}</ref>

There were reports that [[Jordan]] and [[Lebanon]] had turned away Palestinian refugees attempting to flee the humanitarian crises in Syria.<ref>{{Cite web |date=7 August 2014 |title=Jordan: Palestinians Escaping Syria Turned Away {{!}} Human Rights Watch |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/08/07/jordan-palestinians-escaping-syria-turned-away |access-date=22 April 2024 |language=en}}</ref> By 2013, Jordan had absorbed 126,000 Syrian refugees but Palestinians fleeing Syria were placed in a separate refugee camp under stricter conditions and banned from entering Jordanian cities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/jordan-turns-away-palestinian-refugees-fleeing-violence-in-syria/|title=Jordan turns away Palestinian refugees fleeing violence in Syria|date=9 January 2013|work=The Times of Israel}}</ref>

Palestinian refugees from Syria also sought asylum in [[Europe]], especially [[Sweden]], which had offered asylum to any Syrian refugees that managed to reach its territory, albeit with some conditions. Many did so by finding their way to [[Egypt]] and making the journey by sea. In October 2013, the [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command|PFLP-GC]] claimed that some 23,000 Palestinian refugees from the [[Yarmouk Camp]] alone had immigrated to Sweden.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=638344|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141218032610/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=638344|url-status=dead|title=PFLP-GC: Thousands from Yarmouk camp have fled to Sweden|archive-date=18 December 2014}}</ref>

===Palestinian refugees during the 2023 Israel–Gaza war===
{{See also|Gaza Strip evacuations|Palestinian genocide accusation|Attacks on refugee camps in the Gaza war}}
[[File:An aerial view of Al-Mawasi area where displaced Palestinians live in tents, Gaza Strip.jpg|thumb|Aerial view of the [[Al-Mawasi, Rafah|Al-Mawasi]] area, where displaced Palestinians live in tents, January 2025]]
As of January 2024, more than 85% of Palestinians in Gaza, approximately 1.9 million people, were internally displaced during the [[Gaza war]].<ref>{{cite news |title=As Israel's Aerial Bombardments Intensify, 'There Is No Safe Place in Gaza', Humanitarian Affairs Chief Warns Security Council |url=https://press.un.org/en/2024/sc15564.doc.htm |work=United Nations |date=12 January 2024}}</ref> Some wounded Palestinians from Gaza were allowed to leave for Egypt.<ref>{{cite news |title=Foreign nationals and injured Palestinians allowed to flee Gaza for first time since Israel-Hamas war began |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2023/11/01/middleeast/rafah-border-crossing-egypt-foreign-nationals-gaza-intl-hnk/index.html |work=CNN |date=1 November 2023}}</ref> As of 2025, there are over 100,000 Gazan refugees living in Egypt.<ref>[https://jacobin.com/2025/01/gaza-palestine-refugees-egypt-visas Gazan Refugees in Egypt].</ref>

==Refugee statistics==
{{Further|Palestinian refugee camps}}
[[File:DestrJabaliaHouse.jpg|thumb|Destroyed house in the [[Jabalia Camp|Jabalia]] refugee camp, [[Gaza–Israel conflict]], December 2012]]
The number of Palestine refugees varies depending on the source. For 1948–49 refugees, for example, the [[Israeli government]] suggests a number as low as 520,000 as opposed to 850,000 by their Palestinian counterparts.{{citation needed|date=January 2014}} As of January 2015, UNRWA cites 5,149,742 registered refugees in total, of whom 1,603,018 are registered in camps.<ref name="UNRWA2015"/>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right;"
|- style="background: #E9E9E9"
! District !! Number of depopulated villages !! Number of refugees in 1948 !! Number of refugees in 2000
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[Beersheba Subdistrict, Mandatory Palestine|Beersheba]]
|align="right"| 88 || 90,507 || 590,231
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[Beisan Subdistrict|Beisan]]
|align="right"| 31 || 19,602 || 127,832
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[Jenin Subdistrict|Jenin]]
|align="right"| 6 || 4,005 || 26,118
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[Haifa Subdistrict, Mandatory Palestine|Haifa]]
|align="right"| 59 || 121,196 || 790,365
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[Hebron Subdistrict, Mandatory Palestine|Hebron]]
|align="right"| 16 || 22,991 || 149,933
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[Ramle Subdistrict, Mandatory Palestine|Ramle]]
|align="right"| 64 || 97,405 || 635,215
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[Safad Subdistrict, Mandatory Palestine|Safad]]
|align="right"| 78 || 52,248 || 340,729
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[Tiberias Subdistrict, Mandatory Palestine|Tiberias]]
|align="right"| 26 || 28,872 || 188,285
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[Tulkarm Subdistrict|Tulkarm]]
|align="right"| 18 || 11,032 || 71,944
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[Acre Subdistrict, Mandatory Palestine|Acre]]
|align="right"| 30 || 47,038 || 306,753
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[Gaza Subdistrict, Mandatory Palestine|Gaza]]
|align="right"| 46 || 79,947 || 521,360
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[Jerusalem Subdistrict, Mandatory Palestine|Jerusalem]]
|align="right"| 39 || 97,950 || 638,769
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[Nazareth Subdistrict, Mandatory Palestine|Nazareth]]
|align="right"| 5 || 8,746 || 57,036
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[Jaffa Subdistrict, Mandatory Palestine|Jaffa]]
|align="right"| 25 || 123,227 || 803,610
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| Total
| '''531''' || '''804,766''' || '''5,248,185'''
|-
|colspan="7" style="background:#e9e9e9;font-size:90%;"| Demography of Palestine<ref>[[Demographics of the Palestinian territories|Population in Palestine]] (March 2016)</ref>
|}

The number of UNRWA registered Palestine refugees by country or territory in January 2015 were as follows:<ref name="UNRWA2015">{{cite web|title=UNRWA in figures|url=http://www.unrwa.org/sites/default/files/unrwa_in_figures_2015.pdf|publisher=UNRWA}}</ref>
{|class="wikitable"
|-
|{{flag|Jordan}} || 2,117,361
|-
| {{flag|Gaza Strip}} || 1,276,929
|-
| {{flag|West Bank}} || 774,167
|-
| {{flag|Syria}} || 528,616
|-
| {{flag|Lebanon}} || 452,669
|-
| '''Total''' || '''5,149,742'''
|}

===Gaza Strip===
[[File:2018 Gaza border protest.jpg|thumb|[[2018 Gaza border protests]], [[Bureij]] refugee camp in Gaza]]
As of January 2015, the [[Gaza Strip]] has 8 UNRWA refugee camps with 560,964 Palestinian refugees, and 1,276,929 registered refugees in total,<ref name="UNRWA2015"/> out of a population of 1,816,379.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

===West Bank===
As of January 2015, the [[West Bank]] has 19 UNRWA refugee camps with 228,560 Palestinian refugees, and 774,167 registered refugees in total,<ref name="UNRWA2015"/> out of a population of 2,345,107.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

===Jordan===
{{See also|Palestinians in Jordan}}
"More than 2 million registered Palestine refugees live in Jordan. Most Palestine refugees in Jordan, but not all, have full citizenship",<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.unrwa.org/where-we-work/jordan |title= Where We Work |publisher= UNRWA |access-date=10 February 2016}}</ref> following [[Jordanian annexation of the West Bank|Jordan's annexation and occupation of the West Bank]]. The percentage of Palestinian refugees living in refugee camps to those who settled outside the camps is the lowest of all UNRWA fields of operations. Palestine refugees are allowed access to public services and healthcare, as a result, refugee camps are becoming more like poor city suburbs than refugee camps. Most Palestine refugees moved out of the camps to other parts of the country and the number of people registered in refugee camps as of January 2015 is 385,418, who live in ten refugee camps.<ref name="UNRWA2015"/> This caused UNRWA to reduce the budget allocated to Palestine refugee camps in Jordan. 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." Lindsay suggests that eliminating services to refugees whose needs are subsidized by [[Jordan]] "would reduce the refugee list by 40%".<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.jpost.com/EditionFrancaise/Home.aspxservlet/Satellite?cid=1233304645372&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120708164719/http://www.jpost.com/EditionFrancaise/Home.aspxservlet/Satellite?cid=1233304645372&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter |url-status=dead |title= Israel News - Online Israeli News Covering Israel & The Jewish World |date=8 July 2012 |archive-date=8 July 2012 |website= jpost.com}}</ref><ref name=Lindsay2009>{{cite journal |url= https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/uploads/Documents/pubs/PolicyFocus91.pdf |title= Fixing UNRWA |author= James G. Lindsay |page= 52 (see footnote 11) |journal= Policy Focus |issue= 91 |publisher= The Washington Institute for Near East Policy |date= January 2009 |access-date= 4 April 2020 |archive-date= 31 July 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220731164234/https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/uploads/Documents/pubs/PolicyFocus91.pdf |url-status= dead }}</ref>

Palestinians who moved from the [[West Bank]] (whether refugees or not) to Jordan, are issued yellow-ID cards to distinguish them from the Palestinians of the "official 10 refugee camps" in Jordan. From 1988 to 2012, thousands of those yellow-ID card Palestinians had their Jordanian citizenship revoked. [[Human Rights Watch]] estimated that about 2,700 Palestinians were stripped of Jordanian nationality between 2004 and 2008.<ref>[https://www.hrw.org/news/2010/02/01/jordan-stop-withdrawing-nationality-palestinian-origin-citizens Jordan: Stop Withdrawing Nationality from Palestinian-Origin Citizens] - [[Human Rights Watch]].</ref> In 2012, the Jordanian government promised to stop revoking the citizenship of some Palestinians, and restored citizenship to 4,500 Palestinians who had previously lost it.<ref>[http://www.timesofisrael.com/jordan-promises-to-stop-revoking-nationality-from-palestinians/ Jordan promises to stop revoking citizenship from Palestinians] - ''[[Times of Israel]]''</ref>

===Lebanon===
{{See also|Palestinians in Lebanon|Karantina massacre|Tel al-Zaatar massacre|Sabra and Shatila massacre}}
[[File:Shatila - street view (1).jpg|thumb|[[Shatila refugee camp]] on the outskirts of [[Beirut]] in May 2019]]
[[File:Bourj el-Barajneh entrance - Flickr - Al Jazeera English.jpg|thumb|Entrance to the [[Bourj el-Barajneh]] refugee camp in southern Beirut]]
100,000 Palestinians fled to Lebanon because of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and were not allowed to return.<ref name="amn">{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE18/010/2007 |title=Lebanon Exiled and suffering: Palestinian refugees in Lebanon |year=2007 |work=Amnesty International |access-date=8 November 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211203636/http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE18/010/2007 |archive-date=11 December 2013 }}</ref> As of January 2015, there were 452,669 registered refugees in Lebanon.<ref name="UNRWA2015"/>

In a 2007 study, [[Amnesty International]] denounced the "appalling social and economic condition" of Palestinians in Lebanon.<ref name="amn"/> Until 2005, Palestinians were forbidden to work in over 70 jobs because they do not have Lebanese citizenship, but this was later reduced to around 20 as of 2007 after liberalization laws.<ref name="amn"/> In 2010, Palestinians were granted the same rights to work as other foreigners in the country.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/18/world/middleeast/18lebanon.html|title=Lebanon Gives Palestinians New Work Rights|date=18 August 2010|work=The New York Times}}</ref>

Lebanon gave citizenship to about 50,000 Christian Palestinian refugees during the 1950s and 1960s. In the mid-1990s, about 60,000 Shiite Muslim refugees were granted citizenship. This caused a protest from Maronite authorities, leading to citizenship being given to all Christian refugees who were not already citizens.<ref name="v">Simon Haddad, The Origins of Popular Opposition to Palestinian Resettlement in Lebanon, ''International Migration Review'', Volume 38 Number 2 (Summer 2004):470-492. Also Peteet [http://www.arts.mcgill.ca/MEPP/PRRN/papers/peteet.html].</ref>

In the 2010s, many Palestinian refugees in Lebanon began immigrating to Europe, both legally and illegally, as part of the [[European migrant crisis]], due to a deterioration in living conditions there as part of the [[Syrian civil war]]. In December 2015, sources told ''[[Al Jazeera Arabic|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. Many were reaching [[Germany]], with others going to [[Russia]], [[Sweden]], [[Belgium]], and [[Norway]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/12/3/why-are-lebanons-palestinians-leaving-for-europe|title=Why are Lebanon's Palestinians leaving for Europe?|first=Nour|last=Samaha|date=3 December 2015|website=www.aljazeera.com}}</ref> A census completed in January 2018 found that only around 175,000 Palestinian refugees were living in Lebanon, as opposed to previous UNRWA figures which put the number at between 400,000 and 500,000, as well as other estimates that placed the number between 260,000 and 280,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.businessnews.com.lb/cms/Story/StoryDetails.aspx?ItemID=6343|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180115124739/http://www.businessnews.com.lb/cms/Story/StoryDetails.aspx?ItemID=6343|url-status=dead|title=Palestinian refugees number 175,000|first=Samer|last=Rasbey|date=22 December 2017|archive-date=15 January 2018|website=Business News}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/lebanon-census-finds-number-of-palestinian-refugees-only-a-third-of-official-un-data-1.5629560|title=Lebanon Census Finds Number of Palestinian Refugees Only a Third of Official UN Data|date=25 December 2017|newspaper=Haaretz}}</ref>

According to writer and researcher Mudar Zahran, a Jordanian of Palestinian heritage, the media chose to deliberately ignore the conditions of the Palestinians living in Lebanese refugee camps, and that the "tendency to blame Israel for everything" has provided Arab leaders with an excuse to deliberately ignore the human rights of the Palestinian in their countries.<ref name="anti-israel-bias" >[https://www.jpost.com/LandedPages/PrintArticle.aspx?id=183252 Demonizing Israel is bad for the Palestinians], by Mudar Zarhan, 1 August 2010, Jerusalem Post</ref>

===Syria===
{{See also|Palestinians in Syria}}
[[Syria]] had 528,616 registered Palestinian refugees in January 2015. There were 9 UNRWA refugee camps with 178,666 official Palestinian refugees.<ref name="UNRWA2015"/>

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. In September 2015, a Palestinian official said that only 200,000 Palestinian refugees were left in Syria, with 100,000 Palestinian refugees from Syria in Europe and the remainder in other Arab countries.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/100000-Palestinians-have-fled-Syria-to-Europe-official-says-415395|title=100,000 Palestinians have fled Syria to Europe, official says|work=The Jerusalem Post - JPost.com|date=6 September 2015 }}</ref>

===Saudi Arabia===
An estimated 240,000 [[Palestinian people|Palestinians]] are living in Saudi Arabia.

===Iraq===
{{Main|Palestinians in Iraq}}
There were 34,000 Palestinian refugees living in Iraq prior to the [[Iraq War]]. In the aftermath of the war, the majority fled to neighboring Jordan and Syria, or were killed.{{citation needed|date=September 2017}} Thousands lived as [[internally displaced person]]s 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.

===Other countries===
[[India]] agreed to take in 165 refugees, with the first group arriving in March 2006. Generally, they were unable to find work in India as they spoke only Arabic though some found employment with [[UNHCR]]'s non-governmental partners. All of them were provided with free access to public hospitals. Of the 165 refugees, 137 of them later found clearance for resettlement in [[Sweden]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/4919b20b4.html|title=UNHCR - Palestinians bid goodbye to India, hello Sweden|author=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees|work=UNHCR}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/08/05/iraq.palestinians/|title=Sweden, Iceland absorbing Palestinian refugees - CNN.com|website=www.cnn.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=23126#.VoCqr3b2DIU|title=United Nations News Centre|date=3 July 2007|work=UN News Service Section}}</ref>

In 2009, significant numbers of these refugees were allowed to [[third country resettlement|resettle]] abroad. More than 1,000 were accepted by various countries in Europe and South America, and an additional 1,350 were cleared for resettlement in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unhcr.org/4b67064c6.html|title=UNHCR - End of long ordeal for Palestinian refugees as desert camp closes|author=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees|work=UNHCR}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB124778007172153909|title=U.S. Agrees to Resettle Palestinians Displaced by Iraq War|author=Miriam Jordan|date=17 July 2009|work=WSJ}}</ref> Another 68 were allowed to resettle in Australia.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/45343|title=Palestinian-Iraqi refugees – the forgotten victims of Iraq war|date=5 September 2016}}</ref> However, the majority of Palestine refugees strongly oppose resettlement and much rather want to [[voluntary return|return]] to their homes in [[Palestine (region)|the region of Palestine]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fmreview.org/sites/fmr/files/FMRdownloads/en/resettlement.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225211043/http://www.fmreview.org/sites/fmr/files/FMRdownloads/en/resettlement.pdf|url-status=live|archive-date=25 February 2017|title=page 68ff|website=fmreview.org}}</ref>

==Positions==
{{Main|Palestinian right of return}}
{{Israel-Palestinian peace process}}

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."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/RESOLUTION/GEN/NR0/043/65/IMG/NR004365.pdf?OpenElement |access-date=20 June 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070108201915/http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/RESOLUTION/GEN/NR0/043/65/IMG/NR004365.pdf?OpenElement |archive-date=8 January 2007 |title=Ods Home Page }}</ref> This General Assembly article 11 of [[UN General Assembly Resolution 194|Resolution 194]] has been annually re-affirmed.{{sfn|''A/RES/194 (III)''}}<ref name="k" />

===Israeli views===
The Jewish Agency promised to the UN before 1948 that Palestinian Arabs would become full citizens of the State of Israel,<ref>Ilan Pappe, "The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine", p. 110</ref> and the [[Declaration of Independence (Israel)|Israeli declaration of independence]] invited the Arab inhabitants of Israel to "full and equal citizenship".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace%20Process/Guide%20to%20the%20Peace%20Process/Declaration%20of%20Establishment%20of%20State%20of%20Israel|title=Declaration of Establishment of State of Israel|work=GxMSDev}}</ref> In practice, Israel does not grant citizenship to the refugees, as it does to those Arabs who continue to reside in its borders. The 1947 [[United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine|Partition Plan]] determined citizenship based on residency, such that Arabs and Jews residing in Palestine but not in Jerusalem would obtain citizenship in the state in which they are resident. Professor of Law at Boston University [[Susan Akram]], [[Omar Barghouti]] and [[Ilan Pappé]] have argued that Palestinian refugees from the envisioned Jewish State were entitled to normal Israeli citizenship based on laws of [[state succession]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thejerusalemfund.org/ht/display/ContentDetails/i/2591|title=I Want This Poem to End: A Nakba Commemoration |date=17 May 2018|website=thejerusalemfund.org}}</ref><ref>[http://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=14921 "Palestinian refugees were excluded from entitlement to citizenship in the State of Israel under the 1952 Citizenship Law. They were "denationalized" and turned into stateless refugees in violation of the law of state succession] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325082424/http://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=14921 |date=25 March 2009 }}.". "The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine", Ilan Pappé, p. 131</ref>

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. Israel provided the new neighborhoods with necessary services, such as schools and sewers.<ref name="CSM1992">{{cite web|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/1992/0526/26191.html|title=Permanent Homes for Palestinian Refugees|author=The Christian Science Monitor|date=26 May 1992|work=The Christian Science Monitor|access-date=24 April 2016|archive-date=6 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506135823/https://www.csmonitor.com/1992/0526/26191.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[United Nations General Assembly]] passed Resolutions 31/15 and 34/52, which condemned the program as a violation of the refugees' "inalienable [[Palestinian right of return|right of return]]", and called upon Israel to stop the program.<ref>{{cite book|author=United Nations|title=Yearbook of the United Nations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BTdmYFgvyi0C&pg=PA285|year=1992|publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers|isbn=978-0-7923-1970-2|page=285}}</ref> Thousands of refugees were resettled into various neighborhoods, but the program was suspended due to pressure from the PLO.<ref name="CSM1992" />

===Arab states===
{{see also|Casablanca Protocol}}
Most Palestinian refugees live either in the West Bank or Gaza Strip, or the three original "host countries" of Jordan, Lebanon and Syria who unwillingly accepted the first wave of refugees in 1948; these refugees are supported by [[UNRWA]]. The small number of refugees who settled in Egypt or Iraq were supported directly by those countries' governments. Over the last seven decades, a number of refugees have migrated to other Arab states, particularly the [[Arab states of the Gulf]], primarily as [[economic migrants]].{{sfn|Albanese|Takkenberg|2020|p=183|ps=: "The vast majority of the Palestinians who became refugees in 1948, continues to live in the places where they initially took refuge: Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, as well as the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, known as the traditional ‘host countries’, had no choice but to accept the presence of the refugees, while the United Nations (UN) through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine (UNCCP) provided them assistance and attempted to negotiate a political solution. Smaller groups of refugees who had settled in Egypt and Iraq were assisted by local governments, rather than the UN. Difficult living conditions in the host countries prompted thousands of refugees to seek better opportunities not only in the Arabian Peninsula, but also in North Africa."}}

Arab states' view of Palestinian refugees has varied over time. Arab governments have often supported the refugees in the name of [[Arab nationalism|Arab unity]], or because they viewed the Palestinians as an important source of skilled [[human capital]] to support their economic development. However, Arab governments have also frequently "despised" the Palestinian refugees – either viewing them as a threat to demographic balance (as in Lebanon), or because of the "political message of freedom and emancipation that their ‘Palestinian-ness’ carried", or else because in some countries' history Palestinians have been "somewhat associated with strife and unrest".{{sfn|Albanese|Takkenberg|2020|p=183-184|ps=: "Arab countries have generally supported Palestinians, including refugees, in the name of Arab brotherhood and solidarity, but at times also despised them, as a result of political factors and interests. For example, in Jordan former King Abdullah’s aspiration to modernize the East Bank of the Jordan River and re-establish ‘Greater Syria’ resulted in the annexation of the West Bank in 1950, and the extension of Jordanian citizenship to Palestinians under its control (refugees and non-refugee alike). In Lebanon, the Palestinian influx, dominated by Sunni Muslims, was perceived as a threat to the delicate balance between different religious confessions and the related political status quo. In Syria, the Palestinian refugees never constituted more than three per cent of the population and their presence was therefore far less sensitive than in Lebanon. In North Africa and the countries of the Arabian Peninsula, Palestinians were not recognized as refugees as they largely moved there as migrant workers seeking better opportunities, rather than international protection. Arab rulers generally welcomed them as a much needed work-force and also offered political support to their national cause, but subliminally despised the political message of freedom and emancipation that their ‘Palestinian-ness’ carried. With time, Palestinian refugees’ identity crystalized as a ‘nation-in-exile’, but it also became part of the national fabric of some of these countries, not only in Jordan and Lebanon, but also in Egypt, Iraq, and Kuwait. In the national history of some of those countries, Palestinians are somewhat associated with strife and unrest. This, coupled with lack of application of international human rights and refugee laws, as well as a high degree of politicization, has compounded their situation. While socio-economic differences exist across Palestinians in exile, and those who have thrived in host communities are all but rare, the large majority has come to constitute a ‘politically, socially, and economically disadvantaged group’ that has often experienced poverty, discrimination, and, not infrequently, persecution because of their nationality, including in countries where they were initially well received and either legally or de facto integrated. As a result, pending the quest for a political settlement, many have been forced to move from one country to another, often more than once, finding themselves going from one unstable situation to the next."}}

Palestinian refugees have taken citizenship in other Arab states, most notably in [[Jordan]]. However, the conferring of citizenship is a sensitive topic, as "it is often perceived as allowing Israel to evade its responsibility towards the refugees".{{sfn|Albanese|Takkenberg|2020|p=268|ps=: "While cases of Palestinians acquiring citizenship in Arab states are not rare – with Jordan standing out for conferring its citizenship to a large group of Palestinians en masse – they have been ad hoc and are not well documented. The subject remains sensitive, as it is often perceived as allowing Israel to evade its responsibility towards the refugees. In general, the treatment has ranged from favourable in certain countries and at given times in history (e.g. in Libya and the Arabian Peninsula until the 1990s and in Iraq until 2003), to discriminatory and often degrading in others (such as Lebanon and Egypt after the 1970s, as well as many states on multiple occasions since the 1990s). Such treatment has also reflected self-interest, since Palestinians were largely welcome as qualified work-force at the time it was needed. Political circumstances surrounding the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, as well as shifts in the relations between Arab states and the Palestinian leadership (PLO and PA) have often impacted Arab states’ approach to Palestinians. Vindictive policies, often aiming at targeting the PLO, have resulted in the punishment of hundreds of thousands and the ongoing displacement of many more. About 700,000 Palestinians, mostly children and grandchildren of the 1948 refugees, have been cumulatively displaced from Arab countries alone, from the 1970s onward. While the legacy of Palestinian militant resistance in a number of Arab countries cannot be ignored, as a whole, the Palestinian people – and the refugees in particular – have paid the brunt for the political deadlock."}} On 17 October 2023 during the [[Gaza war]], [[Jordan]]'s [[Abdullah II of Jordan|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 (phrase)|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. No refugees in Jordan, no refugees in Egypt."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Alkousaa |first=Riham |date=17 October 2023 |title=King Abdullah on Gaza: 'No refugees in Jordan, no refugees in Egypt' |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/king-abdullah-gaza-no-refugees-jordan-no-refugees-egypt-2023-10-17/ |url-status=live |access-date=17 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231017220222/https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/king-abdullah-gaza-no-refugees-jordan-no-refugees-egypt-2023-10-17/ |archive-date=17 October 2023}}</ref>

[[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 [[Arab states of the Persian Gulf|Gulf States]], and said that the UNRWA Palestine refugees "cling to the illusion that defeating the Jews will restore their dignity".<ref name="NRO">{{cite news|last=Sayyed |first=Tashbih |title=Defeat Terrorism First |url=http://article.nationalreview.com/269137/defeat-terrorism-first/tashbih-sayyed |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130129172748/http://article.nationalreview.com/269137/defeat-terrorism-first/tashbih-sayyed |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 January 2013 |access-date=17 June 2010 |newspaper=National Review |date=18 June 2003 }}</ref>

===Palestinian views===
Most Palestine refugees claim a [[Palestinian right of return]]. In lack of an own country, their claim is based on Article 13 of the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]] (UDHR), which declares that "Everyone has the right to leave any country including his own, and to return to his country", although it has been argued that the term only applies to citizens or nationals of that country. Although all [[Arab League]] members at the time (1948) – [[Kingdom of Egypt|Egypt]], [[Kingdom of Iraq|Iraq]], [[Lebanon]], [[Saudi Arabia]], [[Second Syrian Republic|Syria]], and [[Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen|Yemen]] – voted against the resolution,<ref name="Yearbook">{{cite web|url=https://unispal.un.org/unispal.nsf/361eea1cc08301c485256cf600606959/2dac0ed54bcd6af68525629f00718b98?OpenDocument |title=Yearbook of the United Nations 1948–49 (excerpts) |date=31 December 1949 |work=[[UNISPAL]] |access-date=8 August 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721233654/http://unispal.un.org/unispal.nsf/361eea1cc08301c485256cf600606959/2dac0ed54bcd6af68525629f00718b98?OpenDocument |archive-date=21 July 2011 }}</ref> they also cite the article 11 of [[United Nations General Assembly]] [[UN General Assembly Resolution 194|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 [...]."<ref name="k">{{cite news|year=1948 |url=http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/RESOLUTION/GEN/NR0/043/65/IMG/NR004365.pdf?OpenElement |title=United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194 |format=PDF |publisher=United Nations |access-date=20 November 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070108201915/http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/RESOLUTION/GEN/NR0/043/65/IMG/NR004365.pdf?OpenElement |archive-date=8 January 2007 }}</ref> However it is currently a matter of dispute whether Resolution 194 referred only to the estimated 50,000 remaining Palestine refugees from the 1948 Palestine War, or additionally to their UNRWA-registered 4,950,000 descendants. The [[Palestinian National Authority]] supports this claim, and has been prepared to negotiate its implementation at the various peace talks. Both [[Fatah]] and [[Hamas]] hold a strong position for a claimed ''right of return'', with Fatah being prepared to give ground on the issue while Hamas is not.<ref>R. Brynen, 'Addressing the Palestinian Refugee Issue: A Brief Overview' (McGill University, background paper for the Refugee Coordination Forum, Berlin, April 2007), p. 15, available [http://prrn.mcgill.ca/research/papers/brynen-070514.pdf here] (08/08/09)</ref>

However, a report in Lebanon's Daily Star newspaper in which Abdullah Muhammad Ibrahim Abdullah, the Palestinian ambassador to Lebanon and the chairman of the Palestinian Legislative Council's Political and Parliamentary Affairs committees,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2011/Sep-15/148791-interview-refugees-will-not-be-citizens-of-new-state.ashx#ixzz1aWRkXv9r|title=Interview: Refugees will not be citizens of new state|work=The Daily Star Newspaper – Lebanon}}</ref> said the proposed future Palestinian state would not be issuing Palestinian passports to UNRWA Palestine refugees – even refugees living in the West Bank and Gaza.

An independent poll by Khalil Shikaki was conducted in 2003 with 4,500 Palestinian refugee families of Gaza, West Bank, Jordan and Lebanon. It showed that the majority (54%) would accept a financial compensation and a place to live in West Bank or Gaza in place of returning to the exact place in modern-day Israel where they or their ancestors lived (this possibility of settlement is contemplated in the Resolution 194). Only 10% said they would live in Israel if given the option. The other third said they would prefer to live in other countries, or rejected the terms described.<ref>[https://world.time.com/2012/11/06/the-palestinian-right-of-return-abbas-wades-into-the-morass/ The Palestinian 'Right of Return': Abbas Wades into the Morass], ''[[Time Magazine]]'', 6 November 2012</ref> However, the poll has been criticized as "methodologically problematic" and "rigged".<ref>{{Cite web|title=The 'Right of Return' Debate Revisited|url=https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/the-right-of-return-debate-revisited|access-date=10 July 2020|website=www.washingtoninstitute.org|language=en}}</ref> In 2003, nearly a hundred refugee organizations and NGOs in Lebanon denounced Shikaki's survey, as no local organization was aware of its implementation in Lebanon.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Exile and Return. Predicaments of Palestinians and Jews|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|year=2008|isbn=978-0812220520|pages=36}}</ref>

In a 2 January 2005 opinion poll conducted by the Palestinian Association for Human Rights involving Palestinian refugees in Lebanon:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://saidacity.net/_NewsPaper.php?NewsPaperID=131&Action=Details|title=استطلاع للاجئين في مخيمات لبنان: الغالبية تعارض انتخابات تحت الاحتلال ولا تثق بقدرة "ابو مازن"|publisher=Saida City Net|date=2 January 2005|access-date=9 December 2014}}</ref>
* 96% refused to give up their right of return
* 3% answered contrary
* 1% did not answer

==The Oslo Accords==
Upon signing the [[Oslo Accords]] in 1993, Israel, the EU and the US recognized PLO as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. In return, [[Yasser Arafat]] recognized the State of Israel and renounced terrorism. At the time, the accords were celebrated as a historic breakthrough. In accordance with these agreements, the Palestinian refugees began to be governed by an autonomous [[Palestinian National Authority|Palestinian Authority]], and the parties agreed to negotiate the permanent status of the refugees, as early as 1996. However, events have halted the phasing process and made the likelihood of a future sovereign Palestinian state uncertain.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/middle_east/israel_and_the_palestinians/key_documents/1682727.stm|title=Text: 1993 Declaration of Principles|date=29 November 2001|website=news.bbc.co.uk}}</ref> In another development, a rift developed between Fatah in the West-Bank and Hamas in Gaza after [[Hamas]] won the [[2006 Palestinian legislative election|2006 elections]]. Among other differences, Fatah officially recognizes the Oslo Accords with Israel, whereas Hamas does not.

===United States===
As of May 2012, the [[United States Senate]] Appropriations Committee approved a definition of a Palestine refugee to include only those original Palestine refugees who were actually displaced between June 1946 and May 1948, resulting in an estimated number of 30,000.<ref name="unrwa30">"According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency – the main body tasked with providing assistance to Palestinian refugees – there are more than 5 million refugees at present. However, the number of Palestinians alive who were personally displaced during the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]]  is estimated to be around 30,000."[http://www.timesofisrael.com/us-senate-dramatically-redefines-definition-of-palestinian-refugees/ US Senate dramatically scales down definition of Palestinian 'refugees']</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Palestine|Politics}}
* [[Estimates of the Palestinian Refugee flight of 1948]]
* [[Depopulated Palestinian locations in Israel]]
* [[Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries]]
* [[Palestinian diaspora]]

==References==
=== Notes ===
{{notelist}}
{{Reflist|group=fn}}

=== Citations ===
{{Reflist|2}}

=== Sources ===
==== Books ====
{{refbegin|2}}
* {{cite book | last1=Albanese | first1=Francesca P. | last2=Takkenberg | first2=Lex | title=Palestinian Refugees in International Law | publisher=OUP Oxford | year=2020 | isbn=978-0-19-108678-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OurkDwAAQBAJ}}
* {{cite web|url=http://www.badil.org/en/publication/survey-of-refugees.html?download=1192:badil-survey-2015|title=Survey of Palestinian Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons 2013-2015|volume= VIII|year= 2015|author= BADIL}}
* Esber, Rosemarie M. (2008) ''Under the Cover of War: the Zionist Expulsion of the Palestinians.'' Arabicus Books & Media {{ISBN|978-0-9815131-7-1}}
* Gelber, Yoav (2006). ''Palestine 1948''. Sussex Academic Press. {{ISBN|1-84519-075-0}}.
* Gerson, Allan (1978). ''Israel, the West Bank and International Law''. Routledge. {{ISBN|0-7146-3091-8}}
* {{cite web|url=https://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/features/exploding-myths-unrwa-unhcr-and-palestine-refugees|title= Exploding the myths: UNRWA, UNHCR and the Palestine refugees|year=2011|first= Chris |last=Gunness|author-link= Chris Gunness|publisher=Ma'an News Agency}}
* McDowall, David (1989). ''Palestine and Israel: The Uprising and Beyond''. I.B.Tauris. {{ISBN|1-85043-289-9}}.
* Morris, Benny (2003). ''The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited''. Cambridge: [[Cambridge University Press]]. {{ISBN|0-521-00967-7}}
* Morris, Benny, ''1948: A History of the First Arab-Israeli War'', (2009) Yale University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-300-15112-1}}
* Reiter, Yitzhak, ''National Minority, Regional Majority: Palestinian Arabs Versus Jews in Israel (Syracuse Studies on Peace and Conflict Resolution)'', (2009) Syracuse Univ Press (Sd). {{ISBN|978-0-8156-3230-6}}
* Pappe, Ilan (2006). ''[[The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (Book)|The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine]]'', London and New York: Oneworld, 2006. {{ISBN|1-85168-467-0}}
* Segev, Tom (2007) ''1967 Israel, The War and the Year that Transformed the Middle East'' Little Brown {{ISBN|978-0-316-72478-4}}
* Seliktar, Ofira (2002). ''Divided We Stand: American Jews, Israel, and the Peace Process''. Praeger/Greenwood. {{ISBN|0-275-97408-1}}
* Tovy, Jacob (2014). ''Israel and the Palestinian Refugee Issue: The Formulation of a Policy, 1948–1956''. Routledge.
* {{cite web |url=https://unispal.un.org/pdfs/DPI2499.pdf|title=The Question of Palestine and the United Nations| author= UNDPI |author-link= United Nations Department of Public Information|publisher=DPI/2499 |year=2008}}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.unrwa.org/userfiles/2010011791015.pdf|title=The United Nations and Palestinian Refugees| author= UNRWA |author2= UNHCR |author-link= UNRWA |author-link2= UNHCR |year=2007}}
* {{cite book
 | first=Robert | last=Bowker
 | title=Palestinian Refugees: Mythology, Identity, and the Search for Peace
 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LOYtfyJFBIQC
 | year=2003|publisher=Lynne Rienner Publishers
 | isbn=978-1-58826-202-8
}}
* {{cite book
 | author=Rosemarie M. Esber
 | title=Under the Cover of War: The Zionist Expulsion of the Palestinians
 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NXMPAQAAMAAJ
 | year=2008
 | publisher=Arabicus Books & Media
 | isbn=978-0-9815131-7-1
}}
* {{cite book
 | first=Michael 
 | last=Dumper
 | title=Palestinian Refugee Repatriation: Global Perspectives
 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pNeiihVJYHYC
 | year=2006|publisher=Taylor & Francis
 | isbn=978-0-415-38497-1
 | chapter=Introduction
}}
* {{cite book
 | first=Michael | last=Chiller-Glaus
 | title=Tackling the Intractable: Palestinian Refugees and the Search for Middle East Peace
 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iMO9hP0SsPQC
 | year=2007|publisher=Peter Lang
 | isbn=978-3-03911-298-2
}}
* {{cite book
 | last1=Morris|first1=Benny
 | title=Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist–Arab conflict, 1881–2001
 | date=2001|publisher=Vintage Books|location=New York
 | isbn=978-0-679-74475-7
 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/righteousvictims00morr_0/page/252 252–258]
 | edition=1st Vintage Books
 | url-access=registration
 | url=https://archive.org/details/righteousvictims00morr_0/page/252
}}
{{refend}}

==== Other ====
{{refbegin|2}}
* {{cite web 
 | last=Goldberg | first=Ari Ben 
 | title=US Senate dramatically scales down definition of Palestinian 'refugees' 
 |website=The Times of Israel | date=25 May 2012 | url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/us-senate-dramatically-redefines-definition-of-palestinian-refugees/ 
 | access-date=11 November 2020
}}
* {{cite web 
 | title=Palestine refugees 
 |website=UNRWA 
 | url=https://www.unrwa.org/palestine-refugees 
 | ref={{sfnref | UNRWA}} 
 | access-date=11 November 2020
}}
* {{cite web
 |title=Frequently asked questions
 | url=https://www.unrwa.org/who-we-are/frequently-asked-questions
 | access-date=9 August 2020
|website=UNRWA
 | ref={{sfnref | UNRWA: FAQ}} 
 | language=en
}}
* {{cite web
 | url=https://unispal.un.org/DPA/DPR/unispal.nsf/0/C758572B78D1CD0085256BCF0077E51A
 | title=A/RES/194 (III) of 11 December 1948
 |website=unispal.un.org
 | publisher = UNISPAL
 | ref={{sfnref|A/RES/194 (III)}}
}}
* {{cite web|url=https://ddd.uab.cat/pub/tesis/2015/hdl_10803_312852/mrvm1de1.pdf|format=PDF|title=On Palestinian refugees in Lebanon|last=Velasco Muñoz|first=Rosa|language=es|access-date=4 April 2025}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
[[File:TWIP - 2010-10-31 Interview on Palestinian Refugees.vorb.oga|thumb|right|Interview on Palestinian refugees on This Week In Palestine radio show.]]
* [http://www.unrwa.org/etemplate.php?id=253 UNRWA Palestinian refugee statistics]
* [https://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/uncategorized/heart-of-jenin-map-palestinian-refugee-camps/5089/ Google map of 58 UNRWA camps with descriptions and photos]
* [https://alray.ps/en/index.php?act=post&id=2581 UN refugee agency unveils Palestinian archive]

{{Palestinian refugee camps}}
{{Nakbaend}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palestinian refugee}}
[[Category:Refugees by type]]
[[Category:History of the Palestinian refugees]]
[[Category:Palestinian refugees| ]]