Al-Nakba: facts and numbers
By the end of the war, Israel was able to defeat the Arab armies and seize 78% of the Palestinian lands, except Gaza Strip which was administered by Egypt, while the Jordanian forces kept the West Bank, including the eastern part of Jerusalem. Instead of the 56% provided for in the partition plan, at the end of the war, Israel had bought 78% of the British Mandate territory under its control. From hundreds of towns and villages, 750,000 Palestinian inhabitants had been expelled, about 150,000 remaining on ‘Israeli’ territory -occupied Palestine-. Thus, more than 80% of the native Palestinian population lost their homeland in what is now Israeli territory. The refugees’ land, buildings, businesses, plantations, and bank accounts were expropriated without compensation.
- Between 750,000 and one million: The number of Palestinians expelled and made refugees by Zionist paramilitaries, and subsequently Israeli forces, during Israel’s creation in 1947-49.
- Between 250,000 and 350,000: The number of Palestinians expelled from their homes by Zionist paramilitaries between the passage of the UN partition plan in November 1947 and Israel’s declaration of independence on May 15, 1948 – prior to the start of the war with neighboring Arab states.
- More than15,000: The number of the Palestinians martyrs who killed during the Nakba.
- Approximately 7.1 million: The number of Palestinian refugees and displaced persons as of 2011, including Nakba survivors and their descendants. They are located mostly in the occupied West Bank and neighboring Arab countries such as Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria. UNRWA cites 5,149,742 registered refugees in total, of whom 1,603,018 are registered in camps:
- Approximately 50%: of the total Palestinian population is forcibly residing outside the historic borders of Palestine.
- Approximately 150,000: The number of Palestinians who remained inside what became Israel’s borders in 1948, many of them internally displaced. Today, there are approximately 1.6 million Palestinian citizens of ‘Israel”, who live as second-class citizens in their own homeland, subject to more than 50 laws that discriminate against them because they are not Jewish.
- Two laws were passed to ensure that the newly created state retained a Jewish majority: The Law of Return (1950), which grants Jews from anywhere in the world the right to immigrate to Israel and become a citizen, and the Entry into Israel Law (1952) which was designed to prevent the return of Palestinian refugees.
- At least seven dozen: The number of massacres of Palestinian civilians by Zionist and Israeli forces, which played a crucial role in spurring the mass flight of Palestinians from their homes.
- Approximately 100: The number of Palestinian civilians, including women and children, massacred in the town of Deir Yassin on April 9, 1948, by members of the Irgun and Stern Gang,
- More than 531: The number of Palestinian cities, towns and villages systematically destroyed by Israeli forces or repopulated with Jews between 1948 and 1950.
- Approximately 17,178: The number of square kilometer of Palestinian land expropriated by Israel during and immediately following its creation in 1948.
- Approximately 10%: The total of the historic land of Palestine which is now under the Palestinians control.
- Between 100 and 200 billion: The total estimated monetary loss of Palestinians dispossessed during Israel’s creation, in current US dollars.
