Palestinian politicians and intellectuals agreed unanimously to adhere to the Palestinian refugees' right of return during a workshop held in Gaza on Saturday to mark World Refugee Day.

During the workshop, which was organized by the Gaza-based Palestinian corporation for refugees, the participants reiterated the Palestinian refugees' right of return to their homeland and rejected any attempts of resettling.

Palestinian refugees, not only in the Palestinian territories, but in the entire world, were so much concerned about their right of return since Israeli hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's remarks about the Palestinian refugees last week.

Netanyahu clearly announced in his speech on June 14 that Israel will never accept the return of Palestinian refugees to the Jewish state's territories, but to their demilitarized Palestinian state.

Ramzi Rabah, a Palestinian expert on the refugee affairs, said during the workshop that Netanyahu "had turned the table and executed any hope for any political solution to the Palestinian refugees problem."

He said Netanyahu "has not only closed the file of the refugees, but also threatened to expel 1.5 million Palestinians (Israeli Arabs) out of Israel after declaring that he wanted the Palestinians to recognize a pure Jewish state."

A report issued by the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics Center (PBSC) on Saturday to mark the World Refugee Day said that by the end of 2008, the number of Palestinian refugees all-over the world had reached 4.7 million.

The PBSC said a real humanitarian tragedy plagued the Palestinian people "when thousands of them were expelled, by force, from their towns and villages, which were seized by Israel."

The participants in the workshop concluded that the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) has to sever negotiations with Israel "until it shows complete commitment to halting settlement activities and to the international resolutions, including the Palestinian refugees' right of return to their homeland."

They also called on the Palestinians to be united to end the current rift and to challenge Israel until the Palestinians achieve their national goals, "mainly the refugees' right of return according to the UN resolution No. 194 and establishment of a Palestinian state."

(Xinhua News Agency June 21, 2009)