Informed sources revealed details of a complex intelligence and logistical operation carried out by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in cooperation with international and regional parties, to rescue approximately 30 million historical documents representing the Nakba and Palestinian refugee archive. These documents, which were distributed among the agency's headquarters in the Gaza Strip and occupied Jerusalem, were transported under extremely dangerous security conditions to prevent their confiscation or systematic destruction by Israeli occupation forces.
Sources reported that Jordan played a historical and pivotal role in securing these records, as the capital Amman received the documentary shipments that were gradually smuggled from conflict areas. This secret operation involved high-level coordination to ensure the arrival of original documents proving the rights of millions of Palestinian refugees since 1948, in a preemptive step to confront escalating Israeli threats against the agency's existence and its archive.
The rescued documents include vital and irreplaceable records, such as original refugee registration cards, birth, death, and marriage certificates, in addition to property documents and official papers documenting the stages of displacement and forced migration. These records are considered the living national memory of the Palestinian people, and the only remaining legal and historical evidence to prove the existence of Palestinian families in the villages and cities destroyed by the occupation during the Nakba.
The outlines of this operation began after the outbreak of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, as fears increased about targeting UNRWA's archiving centers. According to reports, agency staff moved documentary boxes under bombardment from Gaza City to temporary warehouses in Rafah, before they were transferred across the Egyptian border by international staff with diplomatic immunity and foreign nationalities.
From Egypt, Jordanian military aircraft took on the task of transporting the archive to the Kingdom, where these aircraft utilized return flights from humanitarian aid missions to Gaza to transport the valuable documentary cargo. These steps were carried out in complete secrecy, away from the eyes of Israeli surveillance, which imposed strict restrictions on the movement of individuals and materials leaving the Strip, making the operation one of the most successful cultural and historical rescue operations in modern times.
In this context, Adnan Abu Hasna, UNRWA's media advisor, affirmed that protecting these records is at the core of the agency's legal and ethical responsibilities towards refugees. He explained that preserving this heritage in Gaza and Jerusalem would not have been possible without the exceptional courage shown by the agency's staff on the ground, who risked their lives to ensure that Palestinian history was not lost amidst the rubble of war and destruction.
Abu Hasna pointed out that the agency did not stop at the physical transfer of documents, but launched a massive project to digitize all records and convert them into secure electronic copies. This project, which enjoys advanced technical support, aims to ensure continuous access to historical information in case the paper copies are damaged, thereby strengthening the resilience of the Palestinian narrative in the face of attempts at obliteration and falsification.
Jordan currently hosts these historical treasures in specialized centers, where the Royal Hashemite Documentation Center of Jordan supervises maintenance and restoration operations. The center possesses global expertise in handling ancient manuscripts and documents, including sterilization, manual and automated restoration, to ensure that these papers remain valid for future generations as a royal witness to inalienable Palestinian rights.
More than 50 specialists are working on the digitization project implemented in Amman, with primary funding from Luxembourg, where millions of papers are being scanned and classified according to the latest international standards. These intensive efforts are a race against time, especially with the approaching date for the implementation of Israeli laws prohibiting UNRWA's activities within the occupied territories, which would inevitably have meant seizing or destroying this archive.
Researchers and academics believe that the importance of this archive goes beyond the agency's administrative aspect, to constitute an 'alternative national archive' in the absence of a central archival institution for the Palestinian state under occupation. The records kept by UNRWA are the primary source for understanding the demographic and social transformations that have occurred in Palestinian society since 1948, and they are the first reference for any historical studies on the Nakba.
This operation brings to mind previous incidents of historical theft carried out by Israel, most notably the seizure of the archive of the Palestinian Research Center and the Palestine Liberation Organization during the invasion of Beirut in 1982. That bitter experience was a primary motivation for UNRWA and the Jordanian side to act quickly and secretly this time, to ensure that the scenario of stealing Palestinian national memory and turning it into spoils of war is not repeated.
The secret operation also included the rescue of the archive of UNRWA's headquarters in East Jerusalem, which has been subjected to a series of attacks and harassment by settlers and the occupation authorities. With increasing pressure to evacuate the historic headquarters in Sheikh Jarrah, it was necessary to remove sensitive documents that document the properties and families of refugees in Jerusalem and the surrounding areas, and transfer them to a safe place outside direct occupation control.
The success of this mission represents a great moral and legal victory, as these documents remain a 'ticking time bomb' in the face of attempts to liquidate the refugee issue. As long as these records exist and are documented, the right of return remains based on a solid database that cannot be refuted, and proves with names, dates, and maps the right of Palestinians to their land from which they were forcibly displaced.
In conclusion, UNRWA continues to affirm its commitment to the mandate granted to it by the United Nations General Assembly, considering the protection of the archive an integral part of providing humanitarian services. With the stability of these documents in Jordan, a new chapter in preserving Palestinian identity begins, where papers worn by time are transformed into a digital and historical fortress that protects the truth from extinction amidst ongoing political and military conflicts.
These archives are not just an institutional responsibility, but an authentic part of Palestinian history and of global importance in proving existence and refuge.
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Details of the Secret Operation to Rescue the Nakba Archive: 30 Million Palestinian Documents Under Jordan's Custody