What is the status of Palestinians right to return in international law ?
“refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date.”
Opponents of Palestinian return argue that the resolution is ultimately irrelevant because it came from the UN General Assembly, which only issues recommendations and not binding resolutions. But such an argument is tenuous, because the Palestinians’ right of return has a broad legal basis that is not limited to Resolution 194. Other international instruments that affirm the right of return include the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Hague Conventions, and the Geneva Conventions. And as noted above, return is also the preferred resolution under the UN refugee regime in general.
As for claims that Palestinian refugee return is simply not feasible for the modern Israeli state, it is worth remembering that Israel fervently welcomes mass immigration under its policy of automatically offering citizenship to Jewish immigrants — which is explicitly termed the “Law of Return.” Over the years, Israel has absorbed large-scale incoming Jewish populations from North Africa, the Middle East, Ethiopia, and the former Soviet Union, and has claimed great success in doing so. This reality is incompatible with claims that Palestinian return is “unfeasible.”