In the south, specifically the Naqab, just 12 percent of the original Palestinian population remained
in their homes following the Nakba; a small percentage of them were internally displaced at this
time and the rest were expelled to Gaza or Jordan.222 Of those who were not displaced during the
Nakba, a substantial number faced internal displacement after the 1967 War, with 77.2 percent of
the IDP population originating from the south, having been displaced after 1967.223 Today this
population is estimated to exceed 439,000 Palestinian IDPs in 1948 Palestine.
1967 Refugees
The majority of those Palestinians displaced from the oPt during the 1967 War found refuge
in neighboring states. Around 200,000 Palestinians were displaced to Jordan, with smaller
numbers displaced to Syria, Egypt and Lebanon.224 The areas of the West Bank closest to
Jordan suffered the highest population loss, while in the central highlands, most Palestinians
sought temporary refuge in nearby fields and villages and were able to return to their homes
after the war.225 In addition, it is estimated that some 60,000 Palestinians were abroad at the
time of the war and were subsequently unable to return to the oPt.226
1967 IDPs
The distribution of the Palestinians displaced from and within the oPt since 1967, including
those displaced for the first time, is difficult to determine given the absence of a registration
220
Ahmad El-Sheikh Muhammad and Shefa-Amr (eds), ‘Table 5.10 : Percentage Population Distribution of InternallyDisplaced Palestinians in Israel by Year of Displacement and Selected Background Characteristics, 2004’ in Palestinians
in Israel: Socio-Economic Survey (Main Findings- 2004) (The Galilee Society, Rikaz, and MADA 2005), 78 [hereinafter
The Galilee Society, Palestinians in Israel] <https://www.gal-soc.org/en/socio-economic-survey-of-palestinians-inisrael-2004/> accessed 3 October 2022.
221
‘Table 11: Distribution of localities which continued to exist in northern Israel, by the number of refugees who
entered them’ in Charles S. Kamen, ‘After the Catastrophe I: The Arabs in Israel, 1948–51’ (1987) 23(4) Middle
Eastern Studies, 473; The Galilee Society, Palestinians in Israel (n 229), 78.
222
Adalah, ‘Nomads Against Their Will – The Attempted Expulsion of the Arab Bedouin in the Naqab: The Example
of Atir-Umm al- Hieran’ (2011), 5 <https://bit.ly/2ncfNAV> accessed 3 October 2022.
223
The Galilee Society, Palestinians in Israel (n 220), 78.
224
UNGA Res 2252 (ES-V) (n 205).
225
For more details, see William Harris, Taking Root: Israeli Settlement in the West Bank, the Golan and the Gaza-Sinai, 1967–
1980 (John Wiley & Sons Ltd 1980).
226
Tayseer Amro, ‘Table 5: Palestinian Estimates of Displaced Persons and Refugees During the 1967 War’ in ‘Displaced
Persons: Categories and Numbers Used by the Palestinian Delegation [to the Quadripartite Committee] (not including
spouses and descendants)’ (1995) 74(14) BADIL.
45
Chapter
The 30,000 - 40,000 persons who were internally displaced during Nakba were uprooted to the
north and to the center of Mandatory Palestine, constituting 85.5 percent and 75.1 percent of
that population, respectively.220 A smaller number were displaced between 1949 and 1967 (7.1
percent from the north and 18.1 percent from the center). These IDPs took refuge in some
47 Palestinian populated cities, towns and villages that found themselves located within the
area that became known as Israel in 1948.221
2
1948 IDPs