Palestinian return to Israel

Palestinian return to Israel refers to the movement of Palestinians back into the territory of present Israel.

The period from 1948 to 1956 saw extensive attempts by Palestinians to cross the border, leading to violent clash between Israeli border guards and border-crossers (residential, political and criminal). Between 2,700 and 5,000 Palestinians were killed by Israel during this period, the vast majority being unarmed and intending to return for economic or social reasons.^[1] The Palestinian Fedayeen insurgency took place during this period.

From 1967 to 1993, a period of mass employment in Israel of Palestinian workers from the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip prevailed, although immigration and naturalization remain largely inaccessible. During the 1990s, following numerous attacks against Israeli citizens by Palestinians, escalating policies of closure of the Green Line replaced labor mobility. In the 2000s, this policy has been supplemented by physical barriers in the West Bank and Gaza, and increasingly tight restrictions on family reunification.

^ Benny Morris (1997). Israel's Border Wars, 1949-1956: Arab Infiltration, Israeli Retaliation, and the Countdown to the Suez War. Clarendon Press. p. 432. ISBN 978-0-19-829262-3. The available documentation suggests that Israeli security forces and civilian guards, and their mines and booby-traps, killed somewhere between 2,700 and 5,000 Arab infiltrators during 1949-56. The evidence suggests that the vast majority of those killed were unarmed. The overwhelming majority had infiltrated for economic or social reasons. The majority of the infiltrators killed died during 1949-51; there was a drop to some 300-500 a year in 1952-4. Available statistics indicate a further drop in fatalities during 1955-6, despite the relative increase in terrorist infiltration.

[Morris1997-1] Benny Morris (1997). Israel's Border Wars, 1949-1956: Arab Infiltration, Israeli Retaliation, and the Countdown to the Suez War. Clarendon Press. p. 432. ISBN 978-0-19-829262-3. The available documentation suggests that Israeli security forces and civilian guards, and their mines and booby-traps, killed somewhere between 2,700 and 5,000 Arab infiltrators during 1949-56. The evidence suggests that the vast majority of those killed were unarmed. The overwhelming majority had infiltrated for economic or social reasons. The majority of the infiltrators killed died during 1949-51; there was a drop to some 300-500 a year in 1952-4. Available statistics indicate a further drop in fatalities during 1955-6, despite the relative increase in terrorist infiltration.

[1]