The Demographic Conflict in Palestine from the Nakba to the War of Annihilation: "Policies, Challenges, and Outcomes"

Study Summary

This study presents a comprehensive analytical treatment of the demographic conflict in Palestine, based on a theoretical and conceptual framework that defines the concepts of demographic conflict, population engineering, settler replacement, and forced displacement, and links them to the Palestinian context as a central arena for the manifestations of these concepts. It also gives special attention to the transformations that followed October 7, 2023, considering it a pivotal turning point that reshaped the political, security, and demographic equations.

This study reviews the historical roots of the demographic imbalance by analyzing the development of the population composition in Palestine before 1948, as the founding backdrop for understanding the organized immigration and settlement policies that preceded the establishment of Israel, and which contributed to redrawing the demographic map. It then moves to analyzing the repercussions of the recent war on the demographic reality, by tracing the patterns of mass displacement in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and the impact of the military operations on population growth and internal and external migration, and the resulting transformations in the balance of population distribution between Palestinians and Israelis.

This study also discusses the current demographic balance and its future trends, in light of the structural disparities between the Israeli population policies backed by state institutions, and the Palestinian reality subject to the constraints of occupation and siege, and sheds light on the legal, security, and geographic tools used to manage and control the Palestinian presence, and the profound demographic and developmental challenges they impose.

This study concludes by exploring possible scenarios for the outcomes of the demographic conflict, and proposing Palestinian alternatives and strategies to strengthen demographic steadfastness and protect the national presence, in a way that establishes a future vision based on demographic justice and political rights. In this way, this study links the historical past, current transformations, and future prospects, proceeding from considering the Palestinian individual the axis and fundamental pillar of the conflict, and demography one of the most prominent determinants of survival and sovereignty in Palestine.