Palestinian return to Israel

Following the 1949 Armistice Agreements, which ended the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, many Palestinian Arabs began attempting to cross the Green Line and return to their homes in the recently established State of Israel. Most of these crossings took place from the Jordanian-annexed West Bank and the Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip, and were largely motivated by dismay among Palestinians who had fled or been expelled from Israeli territory. Although the majority of Palestinian crossers sought to return unarmed to retrieve their belongings or possibly settle among Arab communities in Israel, this period also witnessed the Palestinian Fedayeen insurgency, which was met with Israeli reprisal operations. Approximately 2,700 to 5,000 Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops until the 1956 Arab–Israeli War, when the frequency of these crossings died down significantly.