Refugee camps, UNRWA and the right of return
The UN sets up a special agency for Palestinian refugees, whose camps in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and Gaza become permanent towns and the heart of Palestinian identity in exile.
- UNRWA in Figures — United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, UNRWA (2024)
- The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited — Benny Morris, Cambridge University Press (2004)
- The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood — Rashid Khalidi, Beacon Press (2006)
- Israel-Hamas War — Encyclopaedia Britannica
In December 1949 the UN General Assembly created the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, which began work in 1950. It runs schools, clinics and relief services in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and Gaza, and today about 5.9 million refugees, the 1948 refugees and their descendants, are registered with it, a quarter or so of them living in some 58 recognised camps.
- UNRWA in Figures — United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, UNRWA (2024)
The tents of 1948 became concrete-block neighbourhoods, often organised by village of origin. Refugees’ fates differ sharply by country: Jordan gave most of them citizenship; Lebanon restricts the jobs and property they can hold; Syria’s camps, such as Yarmouk, were devastated in its civil war.
- UNRWA in Figures — United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, UNRWA (2024)
- The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood — Rashid Khalidi, Beacon Press (2006)
For refugees, the right of return is about more than property. UN General Assembly Resolution 194 of December 1948 said refugees “wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours” should be allowed to do so, and Palestinians have kept that text alive for over seventy years. In peace talks Israel has rejected any large-scale return, and negotiators have floated compensation, return to a Palestinian state and symbolic numbers, without agreement.
- The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited — Benny Morris, Cambridge University Press (2004)
- The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood — Rashid Khalidi, Beacon Press (2006)
- The Missing Peace: The Inside Story of the Fight for Middle East Peace — Dennis Ross, Farrar, Straus and Giroux (2004)
In 2024, after Israel alleged that some UNRWA employees took part in the 7 October attack, a UN investigation found nine staff members may have been involved, and they were dismissed. In October 2024 the Knesset passed laws barring UNRWA from operating in Israeli sovereign territory, including East Jerusalem, which took effect in January 2025.
- Israel-Hamas War — Encyclopaedia Britannica
- UNRWA in Figures — United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, UNRWA (2024)
UNRWA is the international community's acknowledgement of responsibility for the refugees, and the right of return, affirmed by UN Resolution 194, is an individual right that cannot be bargained away.
- UNRWA in Figures — United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, UNRWA (2024)
- The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood — Rashid Khalidi, Beacon Press (2006)
Uniquely, refugee status passes to all descendants, perpetuating the problem; a mass return would end Israel as a Jewish state. Israel accused some UNRWA staff of taking part in 7 October and of incitement, and in 2024 the Knesset banned the agency from operating in Israel.
- Israel: A History — Anita Shapira, Brandeis University Press (2012)
- Israel-Hamas War — Encyclopaedia Britannica
Why it matters today
Nearly six million Palestinians are registered refugees. Camp life, UNRWA schools and the demand to return to homes lost in 1948 define what it means to be Palestinian for millions, and Israel's 2024 ban on UNRWA is felt as an attack on refugee status itself.