From the river to the sea: Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the cities Palestinians were driven from in 1948. Scroll and the map will take you to each one.
Loading the map…
Before 1948, these were all Palestinian towns and cities. Today some are under military occupation, Gaza is under siege, and the rest lie inside Israel's 1948 lines, where most of their Palestinian residents were expelled.
Al-Quds is holy to Muslims, Christians and Jews, home to al-Aqsa Mosque, the Dome of the Rock and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Israel seized West Jerusalem in 1948 and East Jerusalem in 1967, then declared the whole city its capital. The UN Security Council declared that annexation "null and void" (Resolution 478), and most of the world does not recognize it.
Palestinians in East Jerusalem are given residency, not citizenship, and Israel can revoke it. Families in neighborhoods like Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan face eviction to make way for settlers.
Read: Palestinians' Century-Long Fight: A breakdown from then to now. →The birthplace of Jesus in Christian tradition, and home to the Church of the Nativity, one of the oldest churches in the world. Today Bethlehem is hemmed in by the separation wall and surrounding settlements, and is home to the Aida and Dheisheh refugee camps.
Read: Israel's Separation Barrier: Security Measure or Apartheid Wall? →Al-Khalil is home to the Ibrahimi Mosque, built over the tomb of the prophet Abraham. In 1994 an Israeli settler shot dead 29 Palestinians praying there. Today several hundred settlers live inside the Old City under heavy military protection, and Shuhada Street, once its main market street, is closed to Palestinians.
Read: Israeli Apartheid: The Systematic Oppression of Palestinians →Jericho is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities on Earth, and the lowest city in the world, about 250 meters below sea level. It sits in the Jordan Valley, where Israel restricts Palestinian access to land and water while settlements farm the valley.
Ramallah is the seat of the Palestinian Authority, but it is still under occupation. Israeli forces raid the city, and it is ringed by checkpoints and settlements that control who comes and goes.
An ancient city between two mountains, famous for its knafeh and olive-oil soap. Nablus is home to Balata, the largest refugee camp in the West Bank, and is surrounded by settlements and military checkpoints.
Jenin refugee camp has been invaded again and again. In 2002 an Israeli assault destroyed much of the camp. In May 2022, Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot dead by Israeli forces while reporting there.
The childhood home of Jesus in Christian tradition, and today the largest Palestinian city inside Israel's 1948 lines. Its Palestinian citizens live under laws that treat them as second-class, including the 2018 Nation-State Law, which says the right of self-determination in Israel belongs to Jewish people alone.
A hill town in the Galilee with a Palestinian majority until May 1948, when Zionist forces captured it and its Palestinian residents fled or were driven out. They have never been allowed to return.
Akka's walled Old City on the sea is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It famously held off Napoleon's siege in 1799. In 1948 most of its Palestinian residents were driven out, and those who remain face pressure to leave the Old City.
Haifa was one of Palestine's great port cities. In April 1948 Zionist militias attacked its Arab neighborhoods, and most of its Palestinian population was driven out in a matter of days.
Yafa, the "bride of the sea," was Palestine's cultural and commercial capital, famous for the Jaffa oranges grown by Palestinian farmers. In 1948 tens of thousands of its Palestinian residents fled or were expelled, and only a few thousand remained.
Read: The Palestinian Exodus of 1948: Unveiling the Catastrophe →In July 1948 Israeli forces expelled the Palestinian populations of Lydd and Ramla, an estimated 50,000 to 70,000 people. Many were forced to walk east in the summer heat, and some died on the way. Palestinians remember it as one of the largest single expulsions of the Nakba.
Read: The Nakba: How did it happen? →The market town of the Bedouin of the Naqab desert. Its Palestinian residents were expelled in October 1948. Today Bedouin villages across the Naqab are "unrecognized" by Israel and denied water and electricity. The village of al-Araqib has been demolished more than 200 times.
One of the oldest cities in the world, a port on ancient trade routes between Africa and Asia. Since October 2023, Israel's bombardment has destroyed much of the city, including al-Shifa, Gaza's largest hospital. In August 2025, famine was confirmed in Gaza City.
Read: The Gaza Crisis →Named after the 14th-century caravanserai, or khan, built there by the emir Yunus. Most of its people are refugees from 1948 and their descendants. Large parts of the city were destroyed during Israel's 2024 offensive.
Read: Living in the World’s Biggest Prison: The Gaza Strip →Gaza's southern city on the border with Egypt. In early 2024 more than a million displaced Palestinians sheltered there after being told it was safe. In May 2024 Israel invaded Rafah anyway.
Tap any city on the map to go back to it. Millions of Palestinians, the families of the people expelled from these towns, are still waiting to return.
Take action →