The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has reiterated that the Palestinian refugee crisis cannot be resolved without a full end to Israeli occupation and the recognition of refugees’ right to return to their original homes.

“There is no solution to the Palestinian refugee issue except by ending the occupation and allowing them to return to the homes from which they were displaced,” Hamas declared in an official statement on the occasion of World Refugee Day,

The movement also condemned Israel’s continued military operations in refugee camps across the occupied West Bank, labeling them a “dangerous attempt to target the refugee issue through systematic destruction and displacement.”

Hamas further criticized efforts, particularly by Israel and the United States, to dismantle or marginalize the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). The organization, which provides essential services to millions of Palestinian refugees, has come under increasing political pressure and funding cuts in recent years.

“The Zionist entity, with full backing from the United States, is seeking to eliminate UNRWA’s role in supporting Palestinian refugees,” the group said, warning that such moves are part of a broader strategy to erase the refugee issue from the international agenda.

The refugee crisis remains one of the most contentious and unresolved aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Over 5.9 million Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA, many of them descendants of those displaced during the 1948 Nakba and subsequent wars.

Hamas’ statement underscores the centrality of the right of return and resistance to displacement in Palestinian political discourse, as the region continues to grapple with deepening conflict and humanitarian crises. (ILKHA)