A poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR), which collected data from just before Hamas’s October 7 attacks on southern Israel, found that one in four Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank wanted to emigrate from the Palestinian territories.
The poll, which was published at the end of June, found the Palestinian desire to leave the territories was similar to levels recorded in 2021.
In 2021, 33% of Gazan Palestinians wanted to emigrate, and in 2023, 31% said the same.
In 2021, 20% of Palestinians in the West Bank wanted to leave. In 2023, the figure rose to 21%.
Demographic differences in those wanting to stay and leave
Young Palestinians were more likely than their older counterparts to wish to leave. In the West Bank, 28% of Palestinians aged 18-29 said they would like to emigrate elsewhere.
In Gaza, 44% of those aged 18-29 stated that they wanted to leave the coastal Palestinian enclave.
In both Gaza and the West Bank, men showed more desire to leave than women.
In the Gaza Strip, 38% of men and only 24% of women said they wanted to go. The difference between men and women in the West Bank was far less significant.
Only 1% more men than women answered they wanted to leave (21% to 20%).
Supporters of Fatah, a political group violently ousted by Hamas in 2007, were also more than twice as likely to want to leave Gaza than Hamas supporters (31% to 14%).
The difference between the two groups in the West Bank was significantly less pronounced, with only 16% of Fatah supporters wanting to leave compared to 19% of Hamas supporters. Third party supporters were significantly more likely to want to leave in both Gaza (45%) and the West Bank (48%).
Why do Palestinians living under Hamas and Palestinian Authority rule want to leave?
While the PCPSR stressed in the survey results that Palestinians faced the most far-right Israeli government in history, nearly half (45%) of all those wanting to leave cited economic reasons.
In the West Bank, which PCPSR stated was “suffering from Israeli settler violence,” 37% cited economic reasons as the driving factor behind why they wanted to leave.
Some 19% said it was political reasons, and 16% answered it was security reasons that made them want to leave.
In Gaza, 54% of Palestinians who wanted to leave cited the economy as their main reason for wanting to do so. An additional 18% said they wanted to look abroad for educational opportunities.
Where do Palestinians want to immigrate?
One in ten of those Palestinians wanting to leave the Gaza Strip and the West Bank wished to emigrate to the United States.
The US was a far more attractive option for Palestinians in the West Bank compared to those in Gazans, with 17% and 3% respectively saying they desired to relocate to America.
More popular to would-be Palestinian migrants were Germany and Canada with 13% stating they would move to the former and 11% to the latter.
Gazans were more eager to reside in Germany (16%) than Palestinians from the West Bank (11%).
The most popular option for Palestinians wanting to leave the territories was Turkey, with 19% of all those wanting to leave setting their sights there.
The least popular option for West Bank Palestinians was Qatar, with only 8% wanting it as their new home, compared to 10% of Gazans.
Foreign worker rights in the Palestinian territories
Asked about their thoughts on the rights of foreign workers in the territories, 76% of all respondents said they should always be allowed to have possession of their own passports.
Gazans were more likely to support this right (80%) than Palestinians from the West Bank (74%).
Most Palestinians (90%) in the West Bank thought that foreign workers should be allowed one day off per week. A total of 83% of Gazans shared this stance.
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