Chapter Four Palestinian Refugees in Host States and the International Responsibility For the last 74 years, Palestinian refugees and IDPs have been living in an increasingly precarious and unsustainable limbo as they continue to be neglected, targeted, and subject to the politicallymotivated whims of the host states in which they reside. In many cases, host states are actively violating the basic rights of Palestinian refugees and IDPs. Palestinian refugees are overwhelmingly dealt with under discriminatory national legislation that deprives them of their basic entitlements. They are additionally subject to violations of customary international law (including the violation of the principle of non-refoulement) and often find themselves neglected and attacked by states that are not only allied with Israel but are also complicit in supporting the same Israeli policies that have caused their ongoing displacement and dispossession. In the same vein, Palestinian refugees and IDPs are confronted with an international community that lacks the political will to alleviate their suffering, guarantee their basic rights, and facilitate durable solutions to their plight. To elaborate on this, the following Chapter will first discuss Israel’s obligations towards Palestinian refugees and IDPs. It will then provide an overview of the status and situation of Palestinian refugees in UNRWA’s areas of operations, Arab host states, and Western host states. The Chapter will conclude with an analysis of the international community’s obligations towards Palestinian refugees, the complicity of powerful Western states, the failure of the international community as a whole, and the role that the international community is able to play in facilitating a just solution to the Palestinian refugee and IDP issue. 4.1. Israel: Obligations and Responsibilities Towards Palestinian Refugees and IDPs Albeit not a host country per se, there are 439,171 Palestinian IDPs in 1948 Palestine and 2,407,662 UNRWA registered refugees as well as 372,793 IDPs under its jurisdiction in the oPt. Israel has specific obligations towards those Palestinian refugees and IDPs who remain within the borders of Mandatory Palestine. As the sole perpetrator of the Palestinian refugee crisis, Israel also has general obligations towards all 9.17 million Palestinian refugees and IDPs – both those in Mandatory Palestine and those elsewhere. In regards to its specific obligations towards displaced Palestinians who remain within Mandatory