From the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River, 6.8 million Palestinians today live in the territory of the former British Mandate in Palestine (1923-1948), which became the State of Israel and the Palestinian territories of the Strip. Gaza and the West Bank.
Administered by the Palestinian Authority or the Islamist movement of Hamas, refugees under the United Nations, residents of East Jerusalem or even Israeli citizens, Palestinians have known for seventy-three years very different realities depending on their place of residence and their status. But the wave of anger that swept through Palestine and the conflict between Hamas and Israel that erupted in May 2021 reminded international opinion that all retain a single identity and a common cause: the right of a people to dispose. of himself.
Occupied by Egypt from 1948 to 1967, then by Israel, which established settlements there until the unilateral withdrawal of 2005, the Gaza Strip was administered by the Palestinian Authority (PA) between 1994 and 2007, then by the Islamist movement of Hamas, which took control in 2007 after expelling Fatah. Since that date, the territory has been placed under Israeli and Egyptian blockades.
Stateless during the Egyptian and Israeli occupation, Gazans became Palestinian citizens with the creation of the PA in 1994. Their documents are issued by Israel, which fixes their residence in Gaza. Since 1996, they can elect their leaders (last ballot in 2006).
The West Bank was occupied by Jordan from 1948 to 1967, then by Israel since 1967. The Palestinians only control the towns and villages in areas A and B (civilian control only), drawn in 1995. Israel controls the rest, the zone C, where the Palestinian presence is hampered (expropriations, demolitions, rare building permits). The Jewish state authorized the establishment of 400,000 Jewish settlers in 132 settlements, plus illegal outposts. Since 2002 and the construction of the separation barrier, Israel has effectively annexed nearly 9% of the territory.
Jordanian citizens between 1948 and 1987, then stateless, the Palestinians of the West Bank became Palestinian citizens in 1994. Their documents are issued by Israel, which manages the Palestinian civil status and fixes their residence in the West Bank. Since 1996, they can elect their leaders (last ballot in 2006).
The 1948 refugees (who fled the territory that became the State of Israel) and their descendants live in camps funded by the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), in Gaza, the West Bank and the Middle East (Jordan , Lebanon, Syria). Refugee status should make it possible to negotiate their “right of return”, a sensitive issue in the peace agreements, since this right concerns 5.6 million Palestinian refugees throughout the Middle East.
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