# The Palestinian Exodus (Nakba) (1947–1949)

URL: https://allhistories.com/israel/timeline/1948-the-palestinian-exodus-nakba
Themes: Wars & Battles

During the 1947–1949 Palestine war, around 700,000 to 750,000 Palestinian Arabs, roughly half the Arab population of Mandatory Palestine, fled or were expelled from their homes in the areas that became Israel. Palestinians call these events the Nakba, Arabic for 'catastrophe'. Between 250,000 and 300,000 had already left before 14 May 1948, and further waves followed the major military operations of the summer and autumn. More than 400 Arab villages were depopulated, and many were later destroyed or resettled by Jewish immigrants under Hebrew names. In 1951 the UN Conciliation Commission estimated the number of refugees who had left Israeli-held territory at 711,000. About 156,000 Arabs remained inside Israel and became citizens. Most refugees settled in camps in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, supported from 1950 by the UN agency UNRWA. The causes are debated. Most historians now hold that expulsions, violence and fear of attack, including massacres such as Deir Yassin, were the main causes, and many describe the events as ethnic cleansing. The traditional Israeli account stresses that many Arabs left of their own accord or at the urging of Arab leaders during a war the Arab side had begun, and Israel has rejected a mass return of refugees.

## Why it matters
The exodus created the Palestinian refugee problem, which remains at the centre of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

Ruler at the Time: [Chaim Weizmann](https://allhistories.com/israel/rulers/chaim-weizmann)

Prime Minister: David Ben-Gurion (Mapai)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Palestinian_expulsion_and_flight)
- [Wikipedia — Nakba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakba)
- [Wikipedia — Palestinian refugees](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_refugees)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica topic lookup — Palestinian refugees](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=Palestinian+refugees)