They were told they’d be able to return after the surrounding nations destroyed the newly formed Israel… that backfired and the surrounding nations refused to take on the refugees they created.

So you’re saying Israel did not massacre or expel Palestinians? I suggest reading Benny Morris (a Zionist Israeli historians)'s four-stage analysis of the Palestinian diaspora. Hint: Most of them were fleeing for their lives or actively ordered to flee by the IDF’s predecessors, as I said above.