Palestine · A closer look
1967
The Naksa
In six days in June, Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza, Sinai and the Golan Heights. Around 300,000 Palestinians were displaced, many for the second time. Military occupation began, and with it settlement, which the UN Security Council and the International Court of Justice have found to be unlawful. It has now lasted longer than most Palestinians have been alive.
The war and occupation
During the June 1967 war, Israel took control of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. This placed the remaining parts of former Mandatory Palestine under Israeli control. For Palestinians, the Naksa, or setback, involved another major displacement as well as a new political reality. People who had already become refugees in 1948 were among those displaced again.
The diplomatic framework
Security Council Resolution 242 linked a lasting peace to Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied in the conflict and to recognition of states' right to live in peace within secure boundaries. It also called for a just settlement of the refugee problem. Its wording became central to later diplomacy and a subject of disagreement. The resolution did not itself end the occupation or establish a Palestinian state.
Source: UN Security Council: Resolution 242, 22 November 1967
Displacement and relief
The humanitarian consequences reached beyond the six days of fighting. People who lost access to homes, jobs or family networks needed emergency assistance, including some who did not fall within the original definition of a 1948 Palestine refugee. UNRWA's mandate evolved to include assistance for people displaced by the 1967 and subsequent hostilities. This history explains why different legal and administrative categories can exist within communities sharing the experience of displacement.
Source: UNRWA: Mandate and assistance after the 1967 hostilities