Moreover, the UN General Assembly recognized the right of return of Palestinians to their homes and property as an inalienable right, noting that its realization is “indispensable for the solution of the question of Palestine.”75 To that end, it established the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, which is specifically mandated, inter alia, to enable Palestinians to exercise their inalienable right to return to their homes and properties from which they were displaced.76 The UN has also recognized the right of return to their homes of origin of Palestinians in refugee-like situations (that is, people that cannot be legally labelled as refugees, even though if they find themselves in similar circumstances) due to expulsion, deportation and denial of residency rights.77 Denial of the Right to Return From its inception, the main task of Israel has been to advance the mission established by the Zionist movement, namely to appropriate Palestinian land for the construction of Jewish colonies and to reduce the size of the Palestinian population on that land. To this end, Israel prevented the return of the over 750,000 Palestinian refugees expelled during the Nakba, despite their right to return, readmission and citizenship in the newly established state. “Are [we justified] in opening fire on the [Palestinian] Arabs who cross [the border] to reap the crops they planted in our territory; they, their women, and 75 UN General Assembly, Question of Palestine, A/RES/3236, 22 November 1974, available at: https:// documents-ddsny.un.org/doc/RESOLUTION/GEN/NR0/738/38/IMG/NR073838.pdf?OpenElement [hereinafter UN General Assembly Resolution 3236]. 76 UN General Assembly, Question of Palestine, A/RES/3376, 10 November 1975, available at: http://www. un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/3376(XXX)&Lang=E&Area=RESOLUTION [accessed 27 Jul 2018]. See also the last report of the Committee, where it acknowledges that “no progress was noted [...] on return to homes and return of property of Palestine refugees”, and it therefore “strongly advocates for the right of return of the Palestine refugees”, UN General Assembly, Report of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, A/72/35, 5 September 2017, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/59d228984.html [accessed 27 Jul 2018]. 77 On deportation, see, e.g., UN Security Council, Security Council Resolution ‎799, S/RES/799, 18 December 1992, available at: http://unscr.com/en/resolutions/doc/799; UN Security Council, Security Council Resolution 726, S/RES/726‎, 6 January 1992, available at: http://unscr.com/en/resolutions/ doc/726; UN Security Council, Security Council Resolution 694, S/RES/694, 24 May 1991 available at: http://unscr.com/en/resolutions/doc/694; UN Security Council, Security Council Resolution 641, S/RES/641, 30 August 1989 available at: http://dag.un.org/bitstream/handle/11176/58615/S_ RES_641%281989%29-EN.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y; UN Security Council, Security Council Resolution 636, S/RES/636, 6 July 1989 available at: http://unscr.com/en/resolutions/doc/636; UN Security Council, Security Council Resolution 608, S/RES/ 608, 14 January 1988 available at: http://unscr.com/en/resolutions/doc/608; UN Security Council, Security Council Resolution 607, S/ RES/607, 5 January 1988 available at: http://repository.un.org/bitstream/handle/11176/59628/S_ RES_607%281988%29-EN.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y [all accessed 27 Jul 2018]. 27