Editing Palestinian refugees (section)

==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 won 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}}</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===
{{Seealso|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>