West Bank Palestinians suffer largest forced displacement in decades

Its so-called 'Operation Iron Wall' has been unprecedented both in terms of its scale, the displacement of residents, the demolition of homes, and the number killed. According to the United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), around 40,000 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced from their camps.

On the first day alone, Israeli soldiers killed ten and wounded 40. In Jenin, eyewitnesses captured footage showing soldiers firing at passersby, with victims collapsing one after another. In one instance, a man carrying food for his children was shot and fell to the ground. Another man was killed while driving with his wife and children.

Similar events happened in Tulkarm and Nur Shams refugee camps. In Nur Shams, Israeli soldiers shot and killed 23-year-old Sundus Shalabi as she stepped out of a car driven by her husband. She was eight months pregnant (the unborn baby could not be saved). They also shot and killed Rahaf Al-Ashqar, 21, while raiding her home.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health says more than 80 Palestinian civilians have been killed and hundreds injured in the past month, yet the operation continues, the army conducting daily demolitions of homes and infrastructure across the camps. Military bulldozers have already razed hundreds of homes, widening alleyways into broad streets by demolishing houses on both sides.

Explosive show

One of the most dramatic displays of destruction took place in Jenin Refugee Camp, where Israeli forces simultaneously blew up 28 homes in a highly publicised demolition that was broadcast by Israeli media. In Tulkarm Refugee Camp, it demolished 50 homes, under the pretext of "expanding roads" or punishing fighters' families.

Jenin Governor Kamal Abu al-Rub said the Israeli army was redrawing the camp's landscape and geography. "The camp had distinct characteristics, but the Israeli army is erasing them by demolishing homes, displacing the majority of its residents, and widening roads to facilitate military movement. Jenin Refugee Camp has now been transformed from a densely packed area into an open neighbourhood."

The demolitions have also targeted homes that Israeli authorities say were used by armed Palestinian fighters for hiding, storing weapons, or assembling explosives. Israeli officials say the operational objective is to "redefine security", forcibly displacing the families of suspected fighters.

Palestinians fear that this is a prelude to a second phase including widespread aerial bombings and tank-led demolitions of whole refugee camps, as seen in Gaza. It was with grim horror, therefore, when Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz announced in recent days the deployment of a tank unit to Jenin Refugee Camp.

In a press statement, he confirmed the forced displacement of around 40,000 Palestinians from northern West Bank refugee camps, saying they would not be allowed to return, as part of a strategy to "prevent the growth of terrorism". He further said Israeli tanks would establish permanent military positions within the camps.

Unprecedented land grabs

These are unprecedented land grabs and Palestinians now fear for the future of the West Bank. In Al-Nu'man village near Bethlehem, Israeli authorities recently ordered the demolition of all 45 homes and buildings. Many Palestinians think Israel is implementing a strategy promoted by religious Zionists to establish complete Israeli control over the West Bank while confining Palestinians to isolated enclaves under a canton-like system.

In a recent off-the-record meeting with foreign journalists, Israeli settler leader and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is alleged to have openly admitted that a key objective of the ongoing military operation in the northern West Bank was the forcible displacement of Palestinians.

Tulkarm Governor Abdallah Kamil believes the Israeli operational aims are to demolish refugee camps, set up since the 1948 Nakba (Catastrophe), when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were displaced, adding that it coincides with Israel's efforts to shut down the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which was set up to support Palestinian refugees.

Israeli tank deployments into Jenin Refugee Camp are being seen as a clear indication of Israel's intent to systematically dismantle the camps. "These tanks have only one mission: to destroy the camp," said Jenin Governor Kamal Abu al-Rub. 

"There are no armed groups, no Palestinian forces, no battlefields that would justify their deployment. Jenin Refugee Camp is less than half a square kilometre in size, and the Israeli army already controls it completely after expelling its residents. The only reason for sending in tanks is to demolish the camp."

Making life unbearable

The military operation has been accompanied by the installation of iron gates, rock blockades, and military checkpoints at the entrances of towns and villages across the West Bank, imposing severe restrictions on movement. 

A journey from Jericho to Ramallah now passes through multiple military checkpoints, each forcing travellers to endure long delays, making movement exceptionally difficult. The restrictions have crippled both individual mobility and trade. A recent Palestinian Authority report revealed that there were now 900 Israeli checkpoints in the West Bank.

US President Donald Trump's comments about pushing Palestinians out of Gaza to Jordan and Egypt (to make way for a real estate "riviera") has emboldened Israeli leaders, who now advocate for the mass expulsion of Palestinians not only from Gaza but also the West Bank. The combined population of both exceeds five million.

The policy of forced displacement has become a core element of Israel's far-right agenda, championed by religious Zionist groups and key factions within Likud, the right-wing party led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose government has accelerated settlement expansion and home demolitions in the West Bank. 

Alongside this have been numerous settler attacks, including arson attacks targeting homes, shops, and vehicles, and physical assaults on Palestinian civilians. This has forced the displacement of almost 30 different Palestinian communities in remote areas of the West Bank over the past year. Many see these attacks as being tolerated, as part of a wider effort to pressure Palestinians into voluntary migration.

Amnesty for violators

Recently, the Israeli government revoked legal proceedings against several settlers previously arrested for killing Palestinians or destroying their property. Meanwhile, in Washington, Trump revoked sanctions imposed by his predecessor Joe Biden on settlers accused of involvement in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

Israeli media reported that a settler detained for murdering a Palestinian who was harvesting olives with his family in the village of As-Sawiya (north of Ramallah) was later released, only to join the Israeli army.

Settler outposts often serve as precursors to larger, permanent settlements. Over the past year, Israel has established 60 new settlement outposts across the West Bank, seven of which have been built in Area B (which is under Palestinian Authority administration, as per the Oslo Accords), an unprecedented violation. In parallel, Israel is expanding existing settlements, adding tens of thousands of new housing units.

A recent report by the Israeli group Peace Now revealed that there were now 350 Israeli settlements in the West Bank, in addition to 15 large settlements in occupied East Jerusalem, which Israel refers to as "neighbourhoods". With four more years of a Trump presidency in Washington, the trend will likely accelerate.