Palestinian refugees are citizens of Mandatory Palestine, and their descendants, who fled or were expelled from their country over the course of the 1947–1949 Palestine war and the 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. In 2019 more than 5.6 million Palestinian refugees were registered with the United Nations.
Palestinian refugees in Aida Refugee Camp, Bethlehem, 1956
1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight – Palestine refugees making their way from Galilee in October–November 1948
Destroyed house in the Jabalia refugee camp, Gaza–Israel conflict, December 2012
Pardes Hana Immigrant Camp of Jewish refugees, 1950
The 1948 Palestine war was fought in the territory of what had been, at the start of the war, British-ruled Mandatory Palestine. During the war, the British withdrew from Palestine, Zionist forces conquered territory and established the State of Israel, and over 700,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled. It was the first war of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and the broader Arab–Israeli conflict.
Arab fighters in front of a burning Haganah armoured supply truck near the city of Jerusalem (c. 1948)
Fawzi al-Qawuqji (third from the right) in 1936
Aftermath of the Ben Yehuda Street bombing, February 1948
Destroyed buildings in the Manshiya quarter of Jaffa, May 1948
