Did Wikipedia remove the word "refugee" from the Palestinian return to Israel article?

Yes. "refugee" appeared 3 times in this article's opening at its peak. Today the opening has none; the body has 14. We saved the article's opening paragraph at 6 moments between 2005 and 2025, and the counts come from those saved copies.

When did the Palestinian return to Israel article stop using the word "refugee"?

The word appeared 3 times in the opening at its peak in 2005. It is absent from today's opening, the part search engines quote and AI systems train on, checked against the live article on 2026-08-01.

How can I verify what Wikipedia's Palestinian return to Israel article used to say?

Each snapshot on this page links the Wikipedia revision it came from, so you can open their own history and compare. We also keep our own copy of the text, which stays readable if the article changes again.

What did Wikipedia remove from the Palestinian return to Israel article?

The opening as it read in 2005

Palestinian immigrations into Israel were numerous border-crossings by Palestinians considered illegal by the Israeli authorities, during the first years of Israeli statehood. Most of the people in question were refugees attempting to return to their homes inside the new Israeli state. Between 30,000 and 90,000 Palestinian refugees returned to Israel as a result. They wanted to return to what were their homes prior to the Arab-Israeli War , looking for their lost loved ones, harvesting crops from fields that were confiscated, and to reclaim property other than land. There were also Bedouins to whom the concept of newly established borders were foreign. During the 1949 - 1956 period the motivation was social or economic concerns (1). Between 2,700-5,000 Palestinians were killed in the period 1949 - 1956 , the great majority of them unarmed. ( Ibid 412-416) The immigrants were in breach of cease-fire agreements concluded by Egypt , Israel and Jordan . During the first years, the Israel and Jordan tried to stop the return. However neither were successful in stopping it entirely (see below). Eventually, the Egyptian ( fedayeen ) morphed into new constellations, while Jordan managed to contain the border areas. Arabs declare the infiltration into Israel's territory to have been a direct consequence to the displacement and dispossession of the Palestinian refugees during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War (see also: Palestinian exodus ) To Israel, the infiltration was a large problem. Israel's answer to this was to establish new settlements along the border and raze the abandoned Arab villages. A "free fire" policy towards infiltrators was adopted - a policy of shooting those crossing the international armistice line illegally. From time to time war crimes and atrocities were committed by Israeli soldiers guarding the border, murder and on one occasion the dumping of 120 caught infiltrators in the Arava desert without water, that led to the death of 30 of them by dehydration. Eventually, the Israeli leadership came to the conclusion that only retaliatory strikes would be able to create the necessary factor of deterrence , that would convince the Arab armies to prevent infiltration. Although the strikes were sometimes confined to military targets (particularly, at the later stages of the infiltration), numerous civilians were killed, prompting the question whether the strikes were a form of collective punishment or terrorism . The first raid was against Falama which were a resounding military failure and the IDF battalion carrying out the strike quickly had to retreat when they encountered resistance from the Jordanian National Guard. This was the cause for the establishment in August 1953 of Unit 101 , a elite commando unit specialised in cross border raids. Initially, the Israeli strategy would allow the targeting of civilians during the strikes; however, following the wave of internal and external criticism after the Qibya operation in October 1953 , during which 60-70 Jordanian civilians were killed, the decision was made to confine the strikes to military targets. During the years 1954 - 1956 , a number of such raids took place. The reprisals led to more Arab hatred and the infiltrations became increasingly more violent, up to the point of the Fedayeen becoming a formal Egyptian Army unit in 1954 . The tactical success of the raids led to the establishment of a very unstable balance of threat, which essentially left Israel in a state of border warfare. The resulting strategic dilemma was one of the reasons for Israel's participation in the 1956 Suez War , after which U.N. peacekeepers were positioned in Gaza, and Jordan tightened security over its border.¹

This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 16060920.

The opening as it stood in 2010 24 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear

Infiltrator from Gaza Strip caught by Israeli soldiers, 1954 Palestinian immigration refers to the movement of Palestinians into the territory of Israel. Since 1948, most Palestinians crossing into Israel have come to live, reside and/or work, many of them continuing the lives they lived prior to their displacement in the Palestinian exodus . Others have crossed to engage in acts of violence and sabotage against Israelis and the Israeli state, as well as apolitical crime. The Israeli government has tightly restricted legal immigration and resettlement of Palestinian refugees within its boundaries, and consistently opposed their Right of Return . The period from 1948 to 1956 saw extensive attempts by Palestinians to cross the border, which were met by severe violence by border guards and a corresponding increase in the violence of border-crossers (residential, political and criminal). From 1967 to 1993, a period of mass employment in Israel of Palestinian workers from the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip prevailed, although immigration and naturalization remain largely inaccessible. During the 1990s, escalating policies of closure of the Green Line replaced labor mobility. In the 2000s, this policy has been supplemented by physical barriers in the West Bank and Gaza, and increasingly tight restrictions on family reunification. As with many issues surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the terminology involved is controversial. Infiltration , immigration , and return each carry particular legal and moral meanings that are sharply disputed.

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 354733993.

The opening as it stood in 2015 5 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear

Infiltrator from the Gaza Strip caught by Israeli soldiers, 1954. Palestinian return to Israel refers to the movement of Palestinians into the territory of Israel . The period from 1948 to 1956 saw extensive attempts by Palestinians to cross the border, leading to violent clash between Israeli border guards and border-crossers (residential, political and criminal). From 1967 to 1993, a period of mass employment in Israel of Palestinian workers from the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip prevailed, although immigration and naturalization remain largely inaccessible. During the 1990s, following numerous attacks against Israeli citizens by Palestinians, escalating policies of closure of the Green Line replaced labor mobility. In the 2000s, this policy has been supplemented by physical barriers in the West Bank and Gaza, and increasingly tight restrictions on family reunification.

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 648445504.

The opening as it stood in 2020

lead Palestinian from the Gaza Strip caught by Israeli soldiers at the border, 1954. Palestinian return to Israel refers to the movement of Palestinians into the territory of Israel . The period from 1948 to 1956 saw extensive attempts by Palestinians to cross the border, leading to violent clash between Israeli border guards and border-crossers (residential, political and criminal). Between 2,700-5,000 Palestinians were killed by Israel during this period, the vast majority being unarmed and intending to return for economic or social reasons. The Palestinian Fedayeen insurgency took place during this period. From 1967 to 1993, a period of mass employment in Israel of Palestinian workers from the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip prevailed, although immigration and naturalization remain largely inaccessible. During the 1990s, following numerous attacks against Israeli citizens by Palestinians, escalating policies of closure of the Green Line replaced labor mobility. In the 2000s, this policy has been supplemented by physical barriers in the West Bank and Gaza, and increasingly tight restrictions on family reunification. The available documentation suggests that Israeli security forces and civilian guards, and their mines and booby-traps, killed somewhere between 2,700 and 5,000 Arab infiltrators during 1949-56. The evidence suggests that the vast majority of those killed were unarmed. The overwhelming majority had infiltrated for economic or social reasons. The majority of the infiltrators killed died during 1949-51; there was a drop to some 300-500 a year in 1952-4. Available statistics indicate a further drop in fatalities during 1955-6, despite the relative increase in terrorist infiltration.

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 957579167.

The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023

Palestinian from the Gaza Strip caught by Israeli soldiers at the border, 1954. Palestinian return to Israel refers to the movement of Palestinians back into the territory of present Israel . The period from 1948 to 1956 saw extensive attempts by Palestinians to cross the border, leading to violent clash between Israeli border guards and border-crossers (residential, political and criminal). Between 2,700 and 5,000 Palestinians were killed by Israel during this period, the vast majority being unarmed and intending to return for economic or social reasons. The Palestinian Fedayeen insurgency took place during this period. From 1967 to 1993, a period of mass employment in Israel of Palestinian workers from the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip prevailed, although immigration and naturalization remain largely inaccessible. During the 1990s, following numerous attacks against Israeli citizens by Palestinians, escalating policies of closure of the Green Line replaced labor mobility. In the 2000s, this policy has been supplemented by physical barriers in the West Bank and Gaza, and increasingly tight restrictions on family reunification. The available documentation suggests that Israeli security forces and civilian guards, and their mines and booby-traps, killed somewhere between 2,700 and 5,000 Arab infiltrators during 1949-56. The evidence suggests that the vast majority of those killed were unarmed. The overwhelming majority had infiltrated for economic or social reasons. The majority of the infiltrators killed died during 1949-51; there was a drop to some 300-500 a year in 1952-4. Available statistics indicate a further drop in fatalities during 1955-6, despite the relative increase in terrorist infiltration.

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1119092583.

The opening as it stood in 2025

Movement back into present Israeli territory Palestinian from the Gaza Strip caught by Israeli soldiers at the border, 1954. Palestinian return to Israel refers to the movement of Palestinians back into the territory of present Israel . The period from 1948 to 1956 saw extensive attempts by Palestinians to cross the border, leading to violent clash between Israeli border guards and border-crossers (residential, political and criminal). Between 2,700 and 5,000 Palestinians were killed by Israel during this period, the vast majority being unarmed and intending to return for economic or social reasons. The Palestinian Fedayeen insurgency took place during this period. From 1967 to 1993, a period of mass employment in Israel of Palestinian workers from the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip prevailed, although immigration and naturalization remain largely inaccessible. During the 1990s, following numerous attacks against Israeli citizens by Palestinians, escalating policies of closure of the Green Line replaced labor mobility. In the 2000s, this policy has been supplemented by physical barriers in the West Bank and Gaza, and increasingly tight restrictions on family reunification. The available documentation suggests that Israeli security forces and civilian guards, and their mines and booby-traps, killed somewhere between 2,700 and 5,000 Arab infiltrators during 1949-56. The evidence suggests that the vast majority of those killed were unarmed. The overwhelming majority had infiltrated for economic or social reasons. The majority of the infiltrators killed died during 1949-51; there was a drop to some 300-500 a year in 1952-4. Available statistics indicate a further drop in fatalities during 1955-6, despite the relative increase in terrorist infiltration.

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1296948241. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.

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