Palestinian refugees in the internal conflicts of Middle Eastern countries and the religious factor

Abstract

The problem of Palestine and Palestinian refugees has long been one of the most important challenges for the Middle East region. As a result of the wars between the Israeli-Arab countries, many Palestinians had to leave their homeland and become equal. This process began intensively in the 1940s and continues to this day. Palestinian refugees moved to various neighboring countries and settled there “temporarily” in the hope of returning to their homeland. Some Arab countries refused to accept Palestinian refugees and still refuse. This has certain religious, political and economic reasons. A number of neighboring countries have accepted and sheltered Palestinian refugees since the time of the first Israeli-Arab war. These countries are; Jordan, Lebanon, etc. Many Palestinians have been living in shelters for decades. Most of them do not have citizenship of the country where they have been living for years. Accordingly, they do not have a permanent job. As soon as the conflict between Israel and Palestine resumes, a new flow of Palestinian refugees immediately appears and problems arise in this regard again, this problem has become relevant again in recent years.

The role of Palestinian refugees in the internal conflicts of the countries of the region has become one of the challenges for some countries in the Middle East. Palestinians often provoke internal conflicts in the countries that have taken refuge, which is why many countries have refused to accept them. In recent years, the problem of Palestinian refugees has become more active - they still seek asylum in various countries, but many neighboring countries, for certain reasons, refrain from accepting them. Due to their large number, Palestinian refugees remain a problem in the internal conflicts of the Middle East region today.

Those Palestinian refugees who have found refuge in a number of countries in the region, as we have already mentioned, have often become the cause of internal conflicts in these countries. For example: Lebanon, Jordan... This circumstance somewhat hinders the provision of shelter to the Palestinian refugee population by neighboring states. In October 2023, renewed military operations between Hamas and Israel turned many Palestinians from the Gaza Strip into refugees again.