Hamas and Fatah both issued statements on Sunday, demanding the right of return for Arabs who left Israel when the modern Jewish state was founded in 1948. In statements prepared for World Refugee Day, both factions said the status of these Arabs represents a central issue in the Arab-Israeli conflict.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency says those Arabs numbered 4.8 million as of 2009, divided into 58 localities. About 41.6 percent live in Jordan and 23 percent live in Gaza, and 43.7 percent of those living in the Palestinian Authority-assigned areas, including Gaza, are defined by the agency as refugees.