This United Nations General Assembly Resolution, adopted near the end of the Arab-Israeli war on 11 December 1948, defines principles for reaching a final settlement and calls for a right of return for Palestinian refugees. Its Article 11 holds that the responsible authorities should compensate those Palestinian refugees that choose not to return to their property, as well the loss of or damage to Palestinian refugees’ property.

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A majority of 35 countries adopted this resolution, with 15 voting against (including the Arab League nations Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen) and 8 abstaining. Israel was not yet a member of the United Nations at the time, and objected to many of the resolution’s articles.