Fear of a New Wave of Palestinian Displacement Echoes throughout the Middle East

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As one walks along the cramped streets of the Jabal Al-Hussein refugee camp in Amman, the prevailing atmosphere is palpable.

"Palestine! No America, No America... Palestine!" cries a fruit vendor amidst the bustling market.

Founded over seventy years ago under the supervision of the United Nations, this community now accommodates over 30,000 Palestinian refugees. These individuals are the offspring of the 700,000 individuals who were either expelled or escaped from their homes in what is presently Israel after the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict. While Israelis refer to this conflict as the War of Independence, Arabs recognize it as the Nakba, or the catastrophe.

Families residing in this camp, which has transformed into a thriving urban community, possess a deep understanding of the state of exile, as they continue to be deprived of the opportunity to return to their ancestral dwellings located in present-day Israel. The United Nations reports a staggering count of approximately 5.9 million Palestinian refugees worldwide, the majority of whom are descendants of those who were expelled during the events of 1948.

These refugees express the sentiment that their current situation equates to a lifetime of separation from their families, friends, and the land they consider their true home. Moreover, for those who still have loved ones residing in Gaza, their condition can be described as enduring the harshest and cruelest form of distress.

An aid truck arrives at a UN storage facility as the conflict between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas continues, in the central Gaza Strip October 21, 2023.

Mohammed Salem/Reuters

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Israel initiated a large-scale aerial assault on the territory, which houses over two million Palestinians, following a bold attack by Hamas militants from Gaza within Israeli borders on October 7, resulting in the loss of 1,400 lives and the abduction of over 200 individuals.

Abdel-Munim Dababsheh, a 49-year-old resident of the camp, reveals that his family relocated to Jordan after the 1967 conflict, during which Israel seized control of the West Bank from Jordan and Gaza from Egypt. He laments leaving a majority of his relatives behind.

"My family has suffered devastating losses throughout the Israeli wars in Gaza," he shares. In 2009, his mother tragically lost her life, followed by his sister in 2012. Recently, during the latest wave of Israeli airstrikes, his aunt and oldest daughter also perished. "I live in constant fear, knowing that at any moment, I could receive a painful phone call informing me of my sister and her children's untimely demise."

According to the United Nations, Gaza has witnessed the heartbreaking deaths of at least 2,789 Palestinian civilians in the last 15 years, often amidst operations claimed by Israel to target Hamas and other militant groups.

The Palestinian health authorities in the Hamas-run enclave report that the current conflict has resulted in a death toll of over 5,000 in Gaza. This number has been reached just over two weeks since Israel initiated its ceaseless air campaign.

Palestinians look for survivors after an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on Sunday.

Hatem Moussa/AP

Despite the increasing number of civilian casualties and the worsening humanitarian crisis, Israel has declared its intention to escalate its aerial bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip. It plans to transform the operation into a multi-faceted campaign in the following days, with the stated aim of eradicating Hamas. This group has been designated as a terrorist organization by Israel, the European Union, and the United States.

Due to the extensive airstrikes carried out by Israel, the specter of history repeating itself, evoking memories of another Nakba, is causing apprehension throughout the region.

Israel has stated that it does not intend to force Gazans to leave for Egypt or any other country. However, concerns regarding potential displacement arose when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) urged Gazans to relocate from the northern areas to the southern regions during their military operation. Furthermore, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken mentioned that talks were ongoing between the US, Egypt, and Israel to establish a humanitarian route in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula for American and other civilians seeking refuge from Gaza. Blinken emphasized on Sunday's episode of NBC's "Meet the Press" that Israel has no intention of taking control of Gaza.

However, the Arab world strongly condemns the possibility of hundreds of thousands of additional Palestinians being forcibly relocated to nearby nations or even distant regions. Last week, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi expressed concerns that if Palestinians were transferred from Gaza, a similar expulsion might happen, leading to Palestinians being forced out of the West Bank to Jordan. The Jordanian foreign minister later stated that this action would be viewed as a declaration of war.

Commentators on Arab media outlets have warned that Israel may be planning to de-populate the Gaza Strip of Palestinians and even re-occupy it.

Collective shame

However, rather than becoming refugees once more, there are Palestinians who would choose to die instead.

"Going to Egypt is out of the question, it's simply impossible. My family and I refuse to consider it. This would mean displacement. Gaza is where they belong, and they are determined to remain there, even if it means facing the risk of being wiped out by an airstrike," Dababsheh explains regarding his relatives.

According to UNRWA, out of Gaza's population of over 2 million, around 1.7 million individuals are refugees.

According to Jordanian Senator Mustafa Hamarneh, the Israelis have always strongly opposed the idea of allowing the return of refugees, leading the Palestinians to emphasize their right to return. Hamarneh believes that even after 75 years, the Arab world is still haunted by the loss of the Palestinian homeland. He also expresses that the Western world may not fully comprehend the profound shame felt collectively as a result of the events of 1948 and the injustice that was inflicted upon them. Hamarneh insists that there is a deep sense of shame, as they firmly believe that the tragic events of 1948 should have never occurred. Any additional displacement of Palestinian refugees is seen as a replication of the same devastating events experienced in 1948.

Israeli officials have expressed their lack of desire to reestablish control over Gaza. In 2005, Israel independently withdrew its military forces from the region and relocated Jewish settlers.

The plight of the Palestinian people resonates strongly in Jordan, given that over half of its population consists either of Palestinians or individuals with Palestinian ancestry, encompassing more than two million Palestinian refugees.

US President Joe Biden embraces Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after arriving at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv on Wednesday.

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However, the fervor for the Palestinian cause reverberates throughout the Arab world, which boasts a population of over 450 million individuals. During a heated confrontation at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza, which quickly gained widespread attention on social media, an Egyptian activist vehemently proclaimed solidarity with the Palestinians and all Arabs, denouncing any attempts to divide them.

The war has stirred up strong emotions among Arabs throughout the region, with graphic images being shared on Arab news channels and social media platforms. Over the past two weeks, various countries including Lebanon, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Iraq, Yemen, Kuwait, and Iran have seen protests in support of the Palestinians. Additionally, hundreds of thousands of people in European capitals and US cities have rallied, demanding an end to Israel's bombings in Gaza and the 17-year blockade of the territory.

Young individuals from throughout the Arab world have reverberated the identical calls for unity that their predecessors did. This is a cause that spans multiple generations and remains as significant in the region as it was over 75 years ago when the Palestinians were displaced.

On Sunday, the Smolarz Auditorium at Tel Aviv University in Tel Aviv, Israel, showcased heart-wrenching visuals of more than 1,000 individuals who have been abducted, missing, or tragically lost their lives in the Hamas attack. These poignant images were carefully exhibited on empty seats, creating a powerful representation of the profound impact and sorrow inflicted by the incident. The photograph captures this touching display.

H.A. Hellyer, an international security studies expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Royal United Services Institute in London, stated that for many in the Arab world, Palestine symbolizes the final struggle for liberation from colonization. Despite Arab states prioritizing domestic issues in recent years, the ongoing war has rekindled attention and renewed discussions on the Palestine question.

The demonstrations are not seen by many protesters as a way to show support for Hamas or to express indifference towards the killing of Israeli civilians. Instead, these protesters argue that the crisis began long before the October 7 attacks, referring to decades of Israeli oppression against the Palestinians.

In Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, hundreds of protesters took to the streets over the weekend. Among them was Ahmed El-Saied, a 45-year-old who claimed that Western governments, in recent years, have pressured Arab states and their populations to disregard the Palestinian issue. This pressure was particularly emphasized as Arabs dealt with "internal and sectarian conflicts."

Alya, who participated in the protests in Egypt, expressed that the recent series of Arab normalization agreements with Israel has created a feeling of "defeatism." According to Alya, the events following October 7 were a startling reminder that the situation has not actually been normalized.

They would rather die in Gaza than move

According to analysts, concerns among Arabs regarding the potential displacement of Palestinians have intensified, primarily a result of provocative language that has been employed by certain members of Israel's right-wing government in previous instances.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a member of parliament in 2017, expressed in an essay his support for encouraging and incentivizing the emigration of Palestinians. He dismissed the idea that emigration is cruel as "absurd" and emphasized the importance of a planned and voluntary process that aims to provide a better life for individuals.

In a more recent incident, Smotrich stirred controversy in March when he called for the Palestinian village of Huwara to be "erased" following the murder of two Israeli settlers in a Palestinian attack. This event sparked retaliatory violence from Israeli settlers, which a high-ranking Israeli military official later described as a "pogrom."

Israel's National Security Minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, has a history of being convicted for anti-Arab racism by an Israeli court years before joining the government. He was also a former follower of Meir Kahane, a Jewish extremist known for advocating the expulsion of Palestinians. Ayala Nimrodi, Ben Gvir's wife, has been reported to express a desire to "remove" the Palestinian population.

Queen of Jordan, Rania Al-Abdullah, speaks during the Web Summit, Europe's largest technology conference, in Lisbon, Portugal, November 2, 2022. REUTERS/Pedro Nunes

Pedro Nunes/Reuters

Queen Rania of Jordan criticizes the West for its "blatant hypocrisy" amidst the escalating death toll in Gaza, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the rhetoric of his right-wing coalition partners, asserting that he is the one in control.

Hellyer expressed concern that such rhetoric has caused Arabs to have a legitimate fear that the forced displacement of Palestinians might actually be under consideration.

"I believe it is not surprising that many in the Arab world would take their statements seriously, particularly when we consider the historical fact that whenever Palestinians have left Palestinian territory in the past, they have never been allowed to return," stated Hellyer.

Hanya Sabawi, a Palestinian who left Gaza as a baby but whose family still resides in the area, expressed uncertainty about the fate of their homes.

"The greatest worry is that they may be forced to leave and become refugees. This topic is now being discussed openly, as if their lives don't hold significance," she shared. "They have no desire to relocate. They would rather face death in Gaza than be uprooted."

CNN's Claudia Otto and Aqeel Najim have contributed to this report.

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