Statistics released by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) on Monday show that 41.2 per cent of the Palestinian residents of their historic land are refugees; 25.2 per cent live in the occupied West Bank and 66.8 per cent are in the Gaza Strip.

Palestinians aged under 15 make up 39 per cent of the total Palestinian population. That age group stands at 40.9 per cent among refugees compared to 39.2 per cent among non-refugees.

According to the statistics, 4.2 per cent of Palestinian refugees are aged 60 or over, compared to 4.6 per cent among non-refugees.

UNRWA said that the number of registered Palestinian refugees as at July 2014 was 5.5 million, of which 16.8 per cent are in the occupied West Bank and 24.2 per cent are in the Gaza Strip. Just under 40 per cent of the refugees live in Jordan; Lebanon hosts 8.9 per cent and there are 10.3 per cent in Syria.

(Middle East Monitor – www.middleeastmonitor.com)