Nearly Half a Million Israelis Left Occupied Palestine Since October 7

By Al Mayadeen English

6 Dec 2023 

About 370,000 Israelis have left Palestine since October 7, and they do not plan to return.

Israeli media reports on Wednesday revealed that a significant number of Israelis have departed from Palestine since the start of the war on Gaza on October 7th.

According to data from the Israeli Population and Immigration Authority, about half a million Israelis have left the occupied territories, Israeli news website Zman Yisrael pointed out. 

During October (from October 7 to October 31), approximately 370,000 Israelis left Palestine, and during November, an additional 139,839 left Palestine. 

The website noted that these figures do not include the tens of thousands of foreign workers and diplomats who have left Palestine after October 7th due to deteriorating conditions.

It has also been noted that migration to Palestine has diminished considerably this year as conditions have improved in Ethiopia and, to some extent, in Ukraine. Conditions of decline in the socioeconomic and political spheres are attributed to the Israeli regime's policies. 

Moreover, the number of immigrants decreased from around 20,000 in the first quarter of 2023 to about 11,000 in the third quarter. In the initial weeks of the war, migration nearly came to a halt, with the number of immigrants to Palestine since October 7th constituting less than 1% of the Israelis who left.

The website emphasized that several Israeli media outlets misinterpreted the return of 300,000 Israelis to Palestine as a significant wave of migration, overlooking the fact that the majority of returnees came back solely from holiday vacations.

Since 'Israel' renewed its aggression on Gaza, it expanded the scope of its targeted area to include the southern territories, which were initially meant to be deconfliction zones.

In response to these massacres, the resistance has been retaliating accordingly, inflicting severe losses on both IOF personnel and equipment.

Likewise, on the northern front, the  Lebanese resistance has been engaging in an exchange of fire with the regime, prompting thousands of settlers to leave the occupied territories.

It is worth noting that in November, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia pointed out there were about 4000 Israeli settlers deciding to repatriate to Ukraine because they deemed it 'safer there'.

Despite these numbers, the regime is pursuing projects of building illegal settlements in the West Bank.

Earlier in the day, a non-governmental organization reported that the Israeli regime greenlighted projects for the construction of over 1,700 new homes, marking an expansion of settlements in occupied East Al-Quds.

"If it weren't for the war (on Gaza), there would be a lot of noise. It's a highly problematic project for the continuity of a Palestinian state between the southern West Bank and east Jerusalem [occupied al-Quds]," said Hagit Ofran from the Israeli NGO Peace Now.