Without Protection or Assistance? Palestinian Refugees, Displacement and International Law

This project examines the international legal framework that should protect the rights of those forcibly displaced within and from the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), considering both Gaza and the West Bank.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has found that Israel’s conduct in Gaza following the attacks of 7 October 2023 has given rise to a ‘real and imminent risk that irreparable prejudice’ will be caused to the ‘right of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to be protected from acts of genocide and related prohibited acts’. When examining the legal consequences of the ongoing violation of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, the Court identified forcible transfers of protected populations, violence, and other violations of humanitarian law as contributing to Palestinian displacement. Experts from the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination have characterised the situation in the OPT in terms of ‘colonization’, itself ‘a negation of human dignity’, and as ‘systemic discrimination’ contributing to ‘racial segregation’.

International law, including international humanitarian and refugee law, offers vital, life-saving protections to those who are forced to flee. This project examines the application of legal frameworks relevant to Palestinian displacement, analysing jurisprudence across jurisdictions and identifying protection gaps. In doing so, it situates responses to Palestinian refugees within the context of four jus cogens, or peremptory norms of international law: the prohibition of genocide, the prohibition of refoulement, the prohibition of race discrimination and the right to self-determination.