The Nakba

Between late 1947 and early 1949, more than 700,000 Palestinians — over half the Arab population of Mandatory Palestine — were expelled from or fled their homes in the war that accompanied the establishment of the State of Israel. More than 400 Palestinian villages were depopulated, and most were subsequently destroyed or repopulated with new residents. Palestinians call this catastrophe the Nakba, Arabic for “catastrophe.”

Israel declared independence on 14 May 1948; the armies of neighboring Arab states entered the war the following day. By the armistice agreements of 1949, Israel controlled about 78 percent of Mandatory Palestine. The remaining territory — the West Bank and Gaza Strip — came under Jordanian and Egyptian administration respectively, and absorbed waves of refugees.

The refugees and their descendants were never permitted to return, despite UN General Assembly Resolution 194 of December 1948, which resolved that refugees wishing to return and live at peace should be permitted to do so. Today, several million registered Palestine refugees live under UNRWA’s mandate across the region, and the Nakba is commemorated annually on 15 May.