2. As for IHL, Customary Rule 133 states that “the property rights of displaced persons must be respected.” A framework of protection for private property is given by the Hague Regulations and the Fourth Geneva Convention, where the latter also provides a particularly strong prohibition against “extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly”, which amounts to a grave breach of the same Convention.113 3. The Law on Succession of States postulates an additional basis for the right of restitution of 1948 displaced Palestinians: the doctrine of “acquired rights”, widely recognized as reflecting a customary norm of international law, states that in case of a change of sovereignty over territory the “acquired” rights of individuals regarding their property located in that territory cannot be affected by the sovereignty change itself, and remain instead vested in the original property owner.114 4. The right to restitution is also contained in refugee law. UNHCR considers “returnee recovery of access to land, housing and property through the establishment of a fair and equitable restitution and compensation framework” essential to repatriation programs,115 and recognizes that “all returning refugees should have the right to have restored to them or be compensated for any housing, land or property of which they were deprived in an illegal, discriminatory or arbitrary manner before or during exile.”116 More specifically, the Palestinian right to restitution is directly addressed by international law. Resolution 194 is again the main point of reference.117 Even though the word “restitution” is not expressly mentioned, the 113 Hague Regulations, supra note 57, art. 46-55; GCIV, supra note 20, art. 53 and 147. 114 Gail Boling, “Absentees’ Property Laws and Israel’s Confiscation of Palestinian Property: a Violation of UN Resolution 194 and International Law”, The Palestine Yearbook of International Law, 11, (2000/2001): 117 [hereinafter Boling, Absentees’ Property Laws]. 115 UNHCR, Handbook for integration and repatriation activities (Geneva: 2004), 16, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/partners/guides/411786694/handbook-repatriation-reintegration-activitiesemcomplete-handbookem.html [accessed 27 Jul 2018]. 116 UNHCR, Conclusion on Legal Safety Issues in the Context of Voluntary Repatriation of Refugees , No. 101 (LV) - 2004, 8 October 2004, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/417527674.html [accessed 6 June 2018]. 117 The right of Palestinian refugees and IDPs to restitution had also been affirmed by the UN in numerous other General Assembly resolutions. See e.g. UN General Assembly, Question of Palestine, 22 November 1974, A/RES/3236, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/3b00f0468.html [accessed 20 September 2018]; UN General Assembly, General Assembly Resolution 34/146, A/ RES/36/146, 16 December 1981, available at: http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/36/a36r146. htm [accessed 27 Jul 2018]. 42