The deal of the century doesn’t consider the tragedy of Palestinian refugees

By Victoria Hudson.

A Palestinian teenager died on Friday afternoon from serious injuries sustained during a Great March of Return to Gaza demonstration months ago. Gaza's ministry of health said Alaa al-Abbasi, 15, was shot in the head by Israeli occupation forces months ago during the protests of the Great March of Return east of Khan Younis, south of the Strip of Gaza. The Great Return March was launched on 30 March 2018 along the border of the Gaza Strip to demand the return of Palestinian refugees and an end to the 13-year blockade on Gaza.

In 2020, Palestine refugees in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria will “continue to face daunting human development and protection challenges” precipitated by the occupation of the West Bank, the conflict in Syria, the political crisis in Lebanon and the growing needs in Jordan, said Christian Saunders, Deputy Commissioner-General of United Nations Relief Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

Turning to US President Donald Trump’s administration’s ‘Vision for Peace, Prosperity and a Brighter Future’ aimed to resolve the decades-long conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, the top UNRWA official said that “a lot of Palestinians are in a state of shock at this point in time, in a state of disbelief”.

The United States administration’s proposal aims to legalize Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem while allowing Israel to annex around 30 per cent of the West Bank. Saunders said it was “extremely unsettling for the Palestine refugees living under occupation, under blockade, and through conflict after conflict and crisis after crisis, hoping for justice and human rights, and with the constant fear that the international community will one day abandon them”.

“Today, more than ever there is a need for stability and today the international community must send a clear message to Palestine refugees and to the world at large that the international community stands firmly behind them”. He recalled that in 2018, UNRWA’s largest donor at that time, the US, stopped its funding, cutting nearly one-third of the agency’s budget.

“The repercussions on our finances and plans were huge, but the support we received from our member States and partners was phenomenal”, he said, calling it “a true testament to the continued international commitment to Palestine refugees.” Despite the potential implications of the loss of funding, the “incredible support allowed us to continue to provide vital services and protection to Palestine refugees”, concluded Saunders.

There is nothing more representative of the Palestinian experience than the tragedy of some seven million refugees. About 70% of Palestinians are refugees, while one third of all refugees in the world are Palestinians. Almost half of Palestinian refugees are stateless.

For decades, Israel has denied them the right to return, violating United Nations General Assembly Resolution No. 194, while supporting unregulated Jewish immigration. Palestinian refugees are the most affected by the conflict with Israel: they suffer from a lack of fundamental human rights, international protection and assistance.

A fair solution to the refugee issue, which recognizes the right of return and provides for several significant options, is crucial to the success of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict negotiations.