JERUSALEM — An Israeli proposal that could potentially strip tens of thousands of Palestinians in Jerusalem of their residency rights has sent shudders through the targeted Arab neighborhoods – areas that were dumped outside Israel’s separation barrier a decade ago, even though they are within the city’s boundaries.

The government’s review of the status of these neighborhoods, home to tens of thousands of people, illustrates the fragile position of Palestinians in a city where they have long suffered discrimination and are caught between the pragmatic conveniences of living under Israeli control and the loyalties to the Palestinian cause.

With few exceptions, Jerusalem’s Palestinians are not Israeli citizens, and instead hold residency status that can be revoked.

Removing residency rights en masse appears highly unlikely due to legal hurdles and domestic and international opposition. But government critics said that it is even being discussed sent an ominous message to Palestinians.

“There is nothing permanent about permanent residency,” said Yudith Oppenheimer, executive director of Ir Amim, an advocacy group that promotes coexistence and equality in the city. “This is another reminder for them how conditional that status is.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the review at a recent meeting called to discuss a wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence that has roiled the area in the past month. About a third of the city’s 300,000 Palestinians live in these neighborhoods.

An official who attended the meeting said the review would look at “all the issues” affecting these neighborhoods, including residency rights, which are coveted by Palestinians because they allow them to work and move freely inside Israel and gain access to Israeli health care and social services. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the latest violence had exposed a “vacuum” in these outlying neighborhoods, which have a minimal Israeli presence but are not considered West Bank territory.

In the past five weeks, 11 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks, mostly stabbings, while 54 Palestinians, including 32 labeled by Israel as attackers, have died from Israeli fire. Many of the Palestinian attackers have originated in east Jerusalem, the section of the city captured by Israel in 1967 and claimed by the Palestinians for their capital.

Israel has responded with a crackdown in Palestinian neighborhoods, deploying thousands of security forces and placing roadblocks and military-style checkpoints at the entrances.

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