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An have been displaced from their homes since the Israeli military on Oct. 8, 2023, in retaliation for a surprise attack by Hamas militants. Many of these Palestinians have sought refuge in United Nations emergency shelters in a situation ."

With shelters running out of adequate access to water, food, electricity and other critical supplies, and .

While the current refugee crisis in Gaza has raised global concern over Palestinian displacement, this is not the first time Palestinians have endured the hardships of forced migration. Long before the latest upheaval, and were forced from or fled their homes in what became the state of Israel. Today, they number about , .

Over the past 20 years, as an anthropologist has focused on the situation of Palestinian displacement in the Middle East. Having studied some of the daunting challenges millions of Palestinians face as stateless refugees denied the ability to , I believe it is critical to understand their history and what is at stake for those trapped in indefinite exile.

Fear, violence and exodus: The Nakba of 1948

The majority of Palestinian refugees today receive aid from the , or UNRWA. Dispersed throughout the region, including in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and the , about , while the remainder live in surrounding cities and towns.

The origins of Palestinian displacement are ongoing and cannot be reduced to a single cause. Most Palestinian refugees, however, can trace their roots to two significant events in Palestinian history: The "Nakba" and the "Naksa."

The is the Nakba, or what is roughly translated into ." The term refers to the mass displacement of during the and the .

The majority of Palestine's Arab population fled their homes during the war, seeking temporary refuge across the Middle East but after hostilities ceased.

The mass exodus of Palestinians in 1948 resulted in two realities that have marked the region since. The first involved about . Known as , this community did not cross any official border and thus never received refugee status under international law. Instead, they became Israeli citizens, distinguished by their legal designation in Israel as "."

Through the the Israeli state proceeded and .

The second event involved over 700,000 Palestinians who fled beyond what became the and . This group of refugees sought shelter in , like Nablus and Jenin, and in neighboring states, including Jordan, Syria, Lebanon .

Immediately following their displacement, these Palestinians were subject to ad hoc support from until , which assumed official responsibility for the management of direct relief operations and .

In addition to providing education, health care and other services, including microfinancing and jobs training, the UNRWA has been supporting refugee camp improvement projects through .

Refugees in Jordan, Egypt and Syria: the Naksa of 1967

The second-largest displacement of Palestinians occurred in 1967 during or the "setback."

Fought between Israel on one side and Syria, Egypt and Jordan on the other, the war ended with , including the remaining areas of Palestine: the West Bank and Gaza Strip. During the war, approximately and housed in one of six new UNRWA refugee camps.

Others found refuge in Egypt and Syria. More than a third of those Palestinians displaced in 1967 were already refugees from 1948 and thus suffered a second forced migration. Just as in 1948, when the 1967 war ended, the and proceeded to destroy several Palestinian villages in the occupied territory, . After their destruction, these areas were leased to Jewish Israelis.

Beyond Al-Nakba and Al-Naksa

Although the tragedies of the Nakba and the Naksa turned the vast majority of Palestinians into refugees, numerous events since then have increased their number. One of the most significant causes of Palestinian displacement today is the Israeli practice of home demolitions.

Whether as a punitive measure or the result of a permit system that rights groups say , between the practice destroyed over 9,000 homes and left approximately 14,000 Palestinians homeless.

The further displacement of Palestinians has also resulted from regional wars involving neither Palestinians nor Israelis. Following the end of Iraq's occupation of Kuwait in 1990, retaliation for support offered by the leading Palestinian national organization, the , to Saddam Hussein.

Since the start of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, , primarily to Turkey and Jordan, while another 200,000 have been internally displaced. More recently, has already internally .

Many refugees, many exiles

Because Palestinians live under various governments in , no single experience can account for their experience of exile. In Jordan, for example, , Palestinian refugees can be divided into numerous groups, each with its own set of opportunities and challenges.

There are Palestinians displaced in 1948 of Jordan but depend on UNRWA for basic services like education and health care. There are also who lack citizenship and are thus deprived of certain civil and political rights. More recently, there are for whom movement and work opportunities have been severely restricted in Jordan.

Palestinians living beyond Jordan also face distinct circumstances. In the West Bank, live under Israeli occupation, subject to a discriminatory system that ."

Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip, , are currently living under a 16-year blockade established by Israel but supported by the Egyptian government. Since the closure began in 2007, restrictions on the import of goods, the movement of people and access to basic resources like electricity have produced dire conditions for Palestinians, including over and .

Since 1948, Palestinians in Lebanon in work, education and health. Treated as an unwanted population in the country, their presence has been a source of significant divisions in Lebanon and a factor in numerous conflicts, including the Lebanese Civil War and the between Syrian-backed militias and factions within the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

Permanent exile or return?

Palestinian refugees represent in modern history. For 75 years now, they have been forced to live as a without the ability to return to their homeland.

The duration of their predicament is undoubtedly tied to the uniqueness of their displacement. Palestinians fled a homeland that became the state of another population, in this case Jewish, whose leaders .

Any solution to Palestinian displacement that involves returning to territory in contemporary Israel thus faces the problem of overcoming the idea of Israel as an exclusively Jewish state. And yet that is the challenge. Whatever peace negotiations may bring, no permanent solution to the Palestine-Israel conflict .

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