26. 'Abdul Haq, A., Al-'Amary, S., Haifa, S., Nasser, S., Scott, A., Taraki, L. Housing Requirements in the Future Independent Palestinian State. A study for the United Nations Center for Human Settlements (HABITAT) commissioned from Birzeit University, 1989: 121 pp.

The Palestinian population of the Occupied Territories is projected for the period 1987 to 2007 in order to study housing requirements for the future Palestinian state. The 1967 Israeli census is accepted as the base population for the Occupied Territories. Secondary sources, concerning the prevailing demographic characteristics in the Occupied Territories between 1967 and 1987 are reviewed in an attempt to reach more reliable estimates of age and sex composition of the Palestinian population and the prevailing mortality, fertility and migration levels in 1987. The 1987 population is estimated by projecting the 1982 Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics' figures. Similar levels of fertility and mortality trends are expected to continue for the period 1988 to 2007. Demographic data for occupied Jerusalem is based on the 1972 and 1983 censuses of Israel. The total resident population of the Occupied Territories (including East Jerusalem) for 1987 is estimated at 1,564,300 and is expected to reach 3,218,300 by the year 2007.
A pattern for the return of Palestinians to the future state of Palestine according to three different scenarios (low, medium and high rates of return) and assumptions concerning their absorption are proposed by the authors. The prevailing economic and housing characteristics in the Occupied Territories and future needs are discussed. A settlement plan for the West Bank and Gaza Strip is suggested and recommendations to meet the future housing requirements in the Palestinian state are presented.