Numerous politicians, commentators and media outlets such as NPR and the Washington Post have claimed that with the Israeli bombing, Palestinains in Gaza “have nowhere to go.”

JOHN QUIGLEY, quigley.2@osu.edu
Professor emeritus of international law at Ohio State University, Quigley’s books include The Statehood of Palestine: International Law in the Middle East Conflict (Cambridge University Press) and The Ruses for War: American Interventionism Since World War II.

He said today: “The bulk of the population of the Gaza Strip consists of families that were displaced from their home areas in 1948 from what is now Israel. They are entitled to repatriation under international law, including the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination which Israel has signed and ratified.

“Several thousand of these Palestinians have been killed by aerial bombardment and other causes attributable in large measure to the Israeli military.

“Statistically, the majority of the persons killed in Gaza in the past two weeks must be from families displaced in 1948. Many more of their number are at risk of being killed in like fashion in the coming weeks.

“Israel’s order of Oct. 13, 2023 to the population of northern Gaza to evacuate southward, an order that includes entire hospitals and their staff and patients, has resulted in numerous deaths. Many who declined to comply with this order have been killed by IDF bombardment nonetheless. Those in southern Gaza who have not been killed face life-threatening conditions there. Many of those who reside in northern Gaza have chosen to remain in the north, in part because they know from Israel’s practice in 1948 and 1967 that once Arabs have been displaced, Israel has not allowed them to return. If Israel seeks safety for the population of northern Gaza, it should allow them to evacuate northward, in keeping with its obligation under Article 5 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.”