A heavy exodus of the non-Jewish population of Palestine took place in 1948 . Though usually described as byproduct of the 1948 Palestine war , the first and largest wave of Palestinian refugees took place in early 1948 , shortly after the Deir Yassin massacre — preceding , therefore , said war , with expulsions of Palestinians continuing to happen for some years thereafter . According to files belonging to the Israeli army that came under the attention of Israeli historians such as Benny Morris , the overwhelming majority ( about 73 % ) of Palestinian refugees left as a result of actions undertaken by Zionist militias and Jewish authorities , with a smaller percentage , about 5 % , leaving voluntarily . By the end of 1948 , there were about 700,000 Palestinian refugees
Deir Yassin massacre
Deir Yassin massacre
Refugee crisis